T
The420Guy
Guest
The Ku Klux Klan recently received a permit to hold a rally in Montgomery,
Ala. A pro-marijuana lobby group was denied.
For Alabama marijuana activist Loretta Nall that summarizes everything that
is wrong with the way state lawmakers view marijuana.
Last fall, Nall learned political activist strategies from a trip to Canada,
where she met Marc Emery, the Canadian millionaire dubbed "The Prince of
Pot" for his role in this country's marijuana movement.
The trip changed her life.
"We smoke pot, we are not criminals, we aren't hurting anyone," the
28-year-old Nall says.
"I know a lot of people who smoke pot and they are not bad people. I decided
to do something about it."
A week after her visit to Canada, just as she was preparing to go public
with a pro-marijuana lobby group in Alabama, U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency
agents arrived at her doorstep for the first time, on foot and in
helicopters.
STATE TARGET
"Our life was so perfect before those helicopters, before the police came
here," says Nall's six-year-old daughter, Belle.
The family had become a target of a state task force against marijuana.
"I don't know why they came, it was out of the blue, it was all of a
sudden," says Nall after butting out a joint. "I'm an activist, I would
never grow anything on my property. But they were after me."
Nall lives deep in the backwoods of the American south, in a trailer with
her two young children, Alex and Belle, and her husband Terry.
The family takes care of chickens, a goose, a St. Bernard and a cat named
Catfish on a two-acre plot of land.
Nall is strong-willed and the sight of helicopters circling her property
convinced her things in Alabama had to change.
A month later, she founded the Alabama Marijuana Party, a political action
committee trying to loosen marijuana laws and raise awareness about the
plant's medicinal benefits. There are 30 members.
She began a letter-writing campaign. Six days after one her letters was
printed in the Birmingham News, Nall was arrested by the Tallapoosa County
Narcotics Task Force. The search warrant notes her letter to the newspaper.
"I was out looking for jobs in Alex City and when we come back there were
six or seven police cars all up and down the driveway, there were men in
flak jackets, armed, cops, people were everywhere, inside the house," Nall
says.
"I asked them what the hell was going on. They had no reason to be here.
They said they had a warrant. They claimed they found marijuana."
DENIES CHARGES
Court records say the agents found 5 grams of marijuana. They confiscated
rolling papers, triple beam scales, magazines and what court records refer
to as "leafy substances" from the freezer. They took her to jail for nine
hours.
Nall was charged with misdemeanour marijuana possession and possession of
drug paraphernalia. She is out on bond and denies having any marijuana in
her trailer.
Nall says she's sure she was targeted her because of her advocacy.
She adds that she plans to fight the charge, then use her political action
committee to run for the local sheriff's department.
"I'm going to fire any cop who arrests a pot smoker," Nall says. "That's
what I want to do, seriously."
Pubdate: Tuesday, April 29, 2003
Source: Ottawa Sun (CN ON)
Contact: oped@ott.sunpub.com
Website: Under Construction fyiottawa.com
Author: Jason Botchford
Ala. A pro-marijuana lobby group was denied.
For Alabama marijuana activist Loretta Nall that summarizes everything that
is wrong with the way state lawmakers view marijuana.
Last fall, Nall learned political activist strategies from a trip to Canada,
where she met Marc Emery, the Canadian millionaire dubbed "The Prince of
Pot" for his role in this country's marijuana movement.
The trip changed her life.
"We smoke pot, we are not criminals, we aren't hurting anyone," the
28-year-old Nall says.
"I know a lot of people who smoke pot and they are not bad people. I decided
to do something about it."
A week after her visit to Canada, just as she was preparing to go public
with a pro-marijuana lobby group in Alabama, U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency
agents arrived at her doorstep for the first time, on foot and in
helicopters.
STATE TARGET
"Our life was so perfect before those helicopters, before the police came
here," says Nall's six-year-old daughter, Belle.
The family had become a target of a state task force against marijuana.
"I don't know why they came, it was out of the blue, it was all of a
sudden," says Nall after butting out a joint. "I'm an activist, I would
never grow anything on my property. But they were after me."
Nall lives deep in the backwoods of the American south, in a trailer with
her two young children, Alex and Belle, and her husband Terry.
The family takes care of chickens, a goose, a St. Bernard and a cat named
Catfish on a two-acre plot of land.
Nall is strong-willed and the sight of helicopters circling her property
convinced her things in Alabama had to change.
A month later, she founded the Alabama Marijuana Party, a political action
committee trying to loosen marijuana laws and raise awareness about the
plant's medicinal benefits. There are 30 members.
She began a letter-writing campaign. Six days after one her letters was
printed in the Birmingham News, Nall was arrested by the Tallapoosa County
Narcotics Task Force. The search warrant notes her letter to the newspaper.
"I was out looking for jobs in Alex City and when we come back there were
six or seven police cars all up and down the driveway, there were men in
flak jackets, armed, cops, people were everywhere, inside the house," Nall
says.
"I asked them what the hell was going on. They had no reason to be here.
They said they had a warrant. They claimed they found marijuana."
DENIES CHARGES
Court records say the agents found 5 grams of marijuana. They confiscated
rolling papers, triple beam scales, magazines and what court records refer
to as "leafy substances" from the freezer. They took her to jail for nine
hours.
Nall was charged with misdemeanour marijuana possession and possession of
drug paraphernalia. She is out on bond and denies having any marijuana in
her trailer.
Nall says she's sure she was targeted her because of her advocacy.
She adds that she plans to fight the charge, then use her political action
committee to run for the local sheriff's department.
"I'm going to fire any cop who arrests a pot smoker," Nall says. "That's
what I want to do, seriously."
Pubdate: Tuesday, April 29, 2003
Source: Ottawa Sun (CN ON)
Contact: oped@ott.sunpub.com
Website: Under Construction fyiottawa.com
Author: Jason Botchford
