Cannabis Consumers Declaration of Freedom

We, the Cannabis Consumers of America, hereby declare our freedom from the forces of bigotry and tyranny that seek to steal our homes, destroy our families, incarcerate, and even kill us for the use of a natural substance, Cannabis Sativa, which has been proven in over 5,000 years of recorded history never to have killed anyone.

We may no longer live in the land of the free, where great men like George Washington and Thomas Jefferson once grew acres of Cannabis. However, we still live in the land of the brave. We are brave enough to fight to regain that freedom, and to stand steadfast against any foe. As little David stood against the mighty Goliath, we shall remain firm in our resolve to stop the insanity known as the War on Drugs.

We stand and fight, yet we lay our weapons down. We are civilized people who wish no harm on anyone. As the great emancipator Lincoln said, "Ballots are the rightful and peaceful successor to bullets." We hereby declare that no candidate for any public office from the President of the United States down to the membership of our local school boards shall receive our votes unless they agree to the following conditions:

1. We refuse to be treated as criminals. We are productive, otherwise law abiding citizens who choose to use Cannabis in a responsible manner, just as others choose to use alcohol or tobacco, substances proven to be much more harmful than Cannabis. We demand an immediate end to incarceration of anyone older than 21 years of age for possession, cultivation, sale and distribution of Cannabis.

2. We demand the right to use any medication that we and our physicians see fit, without government interference. The relationship between physician and patient is private, and unless a patient's condition or treatment poses a public health hazard, no governmental intervention is necessary or acceptable.

3. We will gladly pay reasonable taxes on Cannabis grown for commercial sale, but we refuse to pay taxes on small gardens grown for personal consumption. Just as it is legal to brew alcoholic beverages at home for personal use, as long as they are not sold untaxed or unregulated, it should be legal to cultivate our own Cannabis.

4. We demand that in all crime related civil asset forfeiture proceedings, the owner of the asset in question be entitled to the same rights as a criminal defendant. We demand the right to jury trials for asset forfeitures, and nothing less than unanimous verdicts in all 50 states. All proceeds from legally seized assets should be used to fund educational efforts to prevent underage drug use and free voluntary substance abuse treatment services for all Americans.

5. We demand the right to plant any crop we wish on our family farms. It is estimated that with a mere 6\% of the acreage of the 48 contiguous states devoted to cultivating Cannabis, US dependence on petroleum fuels from foreign lands could be eliminated, air pollution could be drastically reduced, and many new jobs could be created. Our military presence in and around the Persian Gulf, at a cost of $50 billion a year, charged with the protection of oil shipments, would become unnecessary. Much of the anti-American sentiment that fuels terrorist aggression against our innocent civilians is caused by the presence of US troops in Muslim holy places.