Ä [14] ANEWS (1:343/70) ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ECHOMAIL008 Ä Msg : 195 of 207 From : Mike Swartzbeck 1:109/70.816 30 Dec 92 23:41:00 To : All Subj : Resistance 1/2 ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ .MSGID: 1:109/70.816@fidonet A767E423 .PID: MacWoof 1.5.3 NORML Announces the Organization of "The Resistance" Part 1 of 2 Following is a message from the new national director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), announcing the "Organization of 'The Resistance'", November 1992. The following is posted without any permission whatsoever from NORML, although I'm sure they'll be pleasantly surprised. ******************************************************************* I am writing this on the occasion of the election of a new President of the United States, which presents us with a unique opportunity that we must seize. During the election campaign there was much talk about "change", but the only talk about marijuana consisted of jokes about "inhaling". This is the first change we must make. Marijuana prohibition is no joke to someone who is sick with cancer, AIDS, glaucoma, or to someone in a wheelchair. Marijuana prohibition is no joke to people losing their property for possession of a gram of vegetable matter, or to someone serving a sentence longer than the average sentence for murder for growing a few plants. So, we must begin by making marijuana prohibition an issue that is taken as seriously by the media and by our friends, and by this new administration, as it is by the enemies of our freedom. We must begin by demonstrating that we take our own issue seriously by building a new NORML and building coalitions ont only within the fractured marijuana reform movement, but also with our allies across the political spectrum. If we do not do this, how can we expect others to take us seriously? Marijuana prohibition has never been a joke, so it is past time for reform movement to stop being a joke. During the last twelve years what I have called the Narcocracy has taken on a life of its own, corrupting not only law enforcement, but also education and even the military. It has become its own "special interest", independent of, -- and now threatening -- the political process that created it. Of course, if this tyranny was not self-imposed, if soe foreign power had done this to us, there would long since have been a genuine "resistance movement". "The Active Resistance" will be the name of a new NORML publication we will inaugurate along with the new Clinton administration, but it also must be the new name for the reform movement as a symbol of our new-found seriousness and commitment to what has become a genuine life-and-death struggle between the friends of freedom and the forces of tyranny. The average American may think that this is a dramatic overstatement, but the average American has no idea about what is really going on in our country. The sick and dying are being denied medicine to ease their suffering. Lives are being wrecked and Americans are being corrupted by the spoils of the "drug war". In the "Velvet Revolution" led by the great Czech Vaclev Havel, the people of Prague told the Communists and their thugs, "Don't be afraid. We are not like you." This must be precisely our message to the Narcocracy and its collaborators. We are not like them. They use lies, violence, and hatred to get the American people conditioned to give up their freedom. We must use truth, courage, and love to lead them to reclaim their rights. I believe that medical access to marijuana is not peripheral to marijuana prohibition, although logically it should be. In fact, it is central. First, nothing more conclusively demonstrates the fanatic cruelty and dishonesty of the Narcocracy than this. Second, the Narcocracy knows that it cannot afford to have hundreds of thousands of Americans with legal access to marijuana and who consequently cannot be terrorized into silence the way millions of smokers (perhaps even you?) are today. Consequently, we must now coalesce around this issue, in the way that resistance movements have historically grouped in an impregnable mountain redoubt. This is an unassailable high ground on which they can't win, from which we will begin to take back freedom for everyone. --- MacWoof Eval:21Dec92 * Origin: Don't be afraid. We are not like you. (1:109/70.816@fidonet) .PATH: 30039/816 109/70 343 25 396/1 13/13 138/112 343/300 Ä [14] ANEWS (1:343/70) ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ECHOMAIL008 Ä Msg : 196 of 207 From : Mike Swartzbeck 1:109/70.816 30 Dec 92 23:42:00 To : All Subj : Resistance 2/2 ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ .MSGID: 1:109/70.816@fidonet A767E456 .PID: MacWoof 1.5.3 NORML Announces the Organization of "The Resistance" Part 2 of 2 ************************************************************** Inevitably the Narcocracy will charge that the reason that we want to give medicine to sick people is to stop them from arresting healthy people. This is an illogical half-truth, which closer to the truth than they usually get. But, in fact, America needs the "medicine" of truth and freedom as badly as the sick and dying need medical marijuana because freedom is sick and dying, and America is going blind. Of course, all this begins with money, and that is where each of you can make a crucial difference, whatever constraints there may be on your ability to participate openly in The Resistance. This is something which I understand all too well. The process of building a new NORML is really quite simple, after all, this is not General Motors that we are turning around. It really is just a matter of basic management and money. Building new coalitions depends first on having the new NORML capable of handling rapid growth. We must move to a new office, have a small but efficient staff, and we must be able to afford the travel, mailing and other communications that are basic to any movement. How these resources are used, of course, is the crucial question. Along with upgrading our publications, the first outreach on the medical issue will be a new association, The Emergency Coalition For Medical Cannabis. I believe that we can get very substantial support for this from the entertainment industry. I have already laid the foundation for this in both Los Angeles and Nashville. But we cannot proceed with this until we have our own house in order. How fast this can be done is purely a function of the available resources. As I said in the beginning, we now have a unique opportunity. The new Clinton administraton must come into office knowing that the marijuana issue is one to be taken seriously and cannot be ignored with the demagogic drivel about "drugs" that characterized the discredited Bush Administration. During the first hundred days the agenda for the new administration will be set. The question for us is simply: will medical access to marijuana be on that agenda? Will marijuana be recognized as an issue separate from "crack and smack" or will the Narcocracy be allowed to continue to undermine the basic rights of the American people? The answer to these questions is largely in your hands. Please give as generously as you can and reach out to your friends and get them to do likewise. If any would be more comfortable contributing to the Emergency Coalition (which is not tax-deductible at this time) they may do so. But please do not let this moment in history pass without being a part of it. Rights are not given; they are taken. Freedom must be won, and re-won, again and again. Thank you for taking the time to support NORML, and consider these points. Please make a generous contribution today, and please call me if you have any questions. Sincerely, Dick Cowan National Director **************************************************************** The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) can be reached at 1636 "R" Street NW, #3, Washington DC 20009 Phone 202.483.5500 Fax 202.483.0057 --- MacWoof Eval:21Dec92 * Origin: Don't be afraid. We are not like you. 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