In a democracy, the individual must gain rights through solidarity and steadfastness. In every movement, there are setbacks and obstacles. On Wednesday night, Los Angeles got its stash stolen. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration conducted coordinated raids against 11 cannabis clubs in Santa Monica, Venice Beach, Woodland Hills and Sherman Oaks. They took bagfuls of cash, hundreds of plants, thousands of pounds of a large assortment of treats from ice cream bars to cookies to candy bars. The feeling you are feeling right now is what it feels like when doves cry.

The issue here is not only marijuana legalization, but state rights and the War on Drugs in general. The War on Drugs, for anyone not yet aware, is a load of fecal matter smeared across the faces of Americans nationwide. In the 1980s, the CIA turned a blind eye to cocaine smugglers who were trading weapons with Contra rebels in exchange for safe passage into the U.S. It is also alleged that the CIA allowed heroin smuggling in Afghanistan while fighting the Soviets – and before that – in Vietnam.
Not only do I believe the War on Drugs is ineffective, I think it’s the highest form of bull crap. The government of the United States of America is involved in both the smuggling of drugs and warring against rival cartels. The War on Drugs is actually a war for drugs, ensuring our intelligence industrial complex has a source of funding. Legitimate tax dollars go to fund the War on Drugs, and truthfully, I believe the government controls the supply in order to inflate the price of demand and receive a profit. The War on Drugs makes as much logical sense to the average American as a war on hugs, a war on bugs or the war on Oriental rugs.

Being against the War on Drugs is not necessarily about being for people using drugs. It’s about being able to smell something foul and say, “That’s bullshit.” California’s stance is a voice of reason and its citizens need to continue to assert their state’s rights. Rights are garnered through assertion. The people of California voted to decriminalize and legalize medicinal marijuana. With California and Oregon leading the way, six other states have decriminalized marijuana and five states have legalized medicinal marijuana. Four more states – not including California and Oregon – have both decriminalized marijuana and legalized it for medical use.

The States are falling into place against the federal government’s ridiculous drug policies. But the states must stand strong. This is how federalism works. The states can band together to put a check on the federal government, but, in order to succeed, they must have solidarity and steadfastness. This starts with the individual, who, as a political organism, takes the first step by openly condemning the events of Wednesday night. The federal government raided the state and municipal medicinal cannabis clubs so they can continue to control the drug market in order to fund illegal intelligence activities like COINTELPRO – the federal program that interfered with various political organizations from the mid-1950s to the early 1970s like Martin Luther King Jr.’s Southern Christian Leadership Conference – and the U.S. proxy invasion of Somalia just a few weeks ago.

It sucks that the stash got stolen, but keep toking. The prisons are overcrowded with people guilty only of marijuana possession or distribution. Yet, the government can’t arrest all the users. They would have to arrest 20 million Americans. Make no mistake – it is clear who is winning the War on Drugs. You are. When individuals assert themselves and come together, they protect their rights. No arrests were made Wednesday. The government just wants to shake people up and scare them, but more states are enlisting every day. The War on Drugs will soon be over as long as those who oppose it have no fear in the face of tyranny. And who ever knew a stoner to be afraid or paranoid? So, take a moment of silence to ponder all the stolen brownies and golden nuggets, throw on Missy Elliot’s “Pass that Dutch” and puff, puff, give, SoCal.