Date: Fri, 24 May 1996 03:10:55 -0700 (PDT)
From: "Amer. Anti-Prohibition Lg." <[aal 01] at [teleport.com]>
Subject: PDX MARIJUANA WITCH HUNT
American Anti-Prohibition League
3125 SE Belmont Street - The Phantom Gallery
Portland, Oregon, 97214
503-235-4524
email: [AAL 01] at [teleport.com]
Friday
May 24, 1996
*** FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ***
PORTLAND POLICE SAY POT WORTH $2,153.85 PER PLANT,
BUT EACH PLANT ONLY WEIGHS 1.3 GRAMS!?
Portland, Oregon -- According to an official news release dated
May 21, 1996 issued by Public Information Officer C.W. Jensen, the
bureau's Marijuana Task Force seized over 13,000 marijuana plants
in 1995. This, so says the release, was equivalent to 17,067
grams worth of marijuana plants "worth almost $28,000,000."
That's $28 MILLION. Ok, let's do the math:
Value Per Plant
$28,000,000 / 13,000 plants = $2,153.85 per plant
Weight Per Plant
17,067 grams / 13,000 plants = 1.313 grams per plant
Price Per Gram
$2,153.85 / 1.313 = $1,640.40 per gram
Obviously these figures do NOT jive, the real value of one gram
(approximately 3 joints) of good - but not excellent - indoor bud
is actually about $15.00. The federal government estimates each
plant it gets weighs 100 grams (3.57 ounces). Using the MTF's
numbers, one pound of pot would sell for $45,931.20. Indeed weed
is not cheap (due to the prohibition subsidy) but even this is way
out of line with reality.
All this hoopla begs the issue. Did arresting all these pot
farmers in 1995 really make Portland a safer place to live? How
many families - who were doing just fine - have now lost their
primary wage earners, are now on welfare and food stamps? How
many families with small kids have been brutalized by these MTF
thugs (they act and dress just like gang bangers) in this
hypocritical war on (some) drugs? I have personally met and
talked with several in the course of my anti-prohibition activism.
Portland NORML has a file of about 45 individual cases, all of
them personal use, small scale. This is family values?
How much did it cost us in 1995 to protect adults from
themselves? It still amazes me that seemingly rational people can
act so stupid when it comes to (some) drugs. This hypocrisy,
these glaring disparities between the effect of a drug and its
legal status screams for correction, cries for justice. Alas it
would appear none of these people - or the press and media -
really cares about any of that. Perhaps with good reason.
Which brings up yet another issue. What about corruption?
While everyone's cheering these goons on, is anyone keeping an eye
on the drugs, the money, the guns? Where are all these pot
plants, all these hard drugs going? Who's in charge of them,
where's the inventory? Do MTF officers get drug tested? Does the
mayor, the DA? Are their bank accounts scrutinized? I'm not a
vindictive person but I'm sick of my local police and government
acting like a bunch of nazis who conspire with the press and media
to conduct what amounts to a witch hunt. You should all be
ashamed of yourselves for the harm you've done to good, decent
people.
*** END RELEASE ***
Floyd Ferris Landrath - Director, American Anti-Prohibition League
*** 5 weeks left, Please sign the OCTA petition ***
*** Call 503-235-4606 ***
*** Put an end to the drug war police state ***
*** DRUG WAR, or DRUG PEACE? ***