Pubdate: Thu, 22 Apr 2004 Source: Las Vegas Mercury (NV) Copyright: 2004 Las Vegas Mercury Contact: http://www.lasvegasmercury.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2595 Author: Jose Melendez Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v04/n592/a05.html Cited: Office of National Drug Control Policy http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/walters.htm (Walters, John) DRUG WAR IS TREASON, RESTRAINT OF TRADE Kudos for publishing Kirk Muse's on-target assessment of "drug war cheerleaders" [Letters, "Drug Czar Anti-Pot, Pro-Bureaucracy," April 15]. I would like to add that the U.S. Constitution defines treason as waging war on Americans, or providing aid and comfort to our enemies. Also, the antitrust law known as the Sherman Act clearly deems illegal any price fixing, bid rigging or collusion between persons or corporations that inflate prices of inferior products, cheat the customer, restrain trade or commerce, or any attempt "to monopolize any part of the trade or commerce among the several States, or with foreign nations." Yet news media, law enforcers and politicians alike consistently omit such relevant and material facts even as they turn a blind eye to and even promote foods, food supplements, drugs, deadly and defective drug delivery devices and alcohol products that are irrefutably associated with more than 1 million American deaths each year. According to Title 21, Chapter 22, Section 1712, on Sept. 30, 2003, the chapter and the amendments in U.S. Code that funded John Walters' agency were repealed, including the provisions in Section 1713 that authorized the secretary of state, attorney general, secretary of agriculture, secretary of defense, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy and administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to collude with multibillion-dollar conglomerate chemical manufacturers and private military contractors to develop and spray herbicides to "eliminate illicit narcotics crops," specifically coca, cannabis and opium poppy in the United States and foreign countries. The very fact that coca, poppies and marijuana farming proliferates in ever greater proportions across regional boundaries and international borders should be enough evidence that such policies are at least ill advised, and likely involve criminal collusion with companies whose products would otherwise have to compete in a fair and open market. Jose Melendez, Contributing author, Cannabis News, DeLand, Fla. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake