THE TIME HAS ARRIVED TO END THE LUCRATIVE WAR ON CANNABIS

Thank you, South Maui, for your vote of confidence and
congratulations, America, for voting for change. As the
president-elect exhorted, let's move beyond the arguments of the past,
old policies and perceptions that divide us and work together for
solutions to our many challenges.

One of the biggest challenges is to end the wars based on lies, not
just in the Middle East but also here at home - the generations-long,
incredibly destructive war on cannabis.

Started in the '30s with a racist rebranding as marijuana, it
literally kicked in as "no-knock" laws and went into high gear in the
'70s when President Nixon, against the advice of his own cannabis
commission, created the controlled substances act that declared war on
drugs.

Hundreds of millions of dollars have since flowed to local law
enforcement. Vice squads that had seven officers went to 70. Even
small police forces now bristled with weapons and sophisticated
surveillance and interrogation equipment. Our prison population
ballooned with 60 percent nonviolent drug offenders so that we now
imprison more than any other country in the world while cannabis use
has stayed pretty much unchanged.

The destruction to our communities from these warriors continues
unabated.

Here on Maui, local and state officials conducted a two-year, covert
military-like operation code named "Weed Killer" to destroy a
community-based cannabis patient advocacy group, "Patients Without
Time."

Headed by Brian Murphy, PWT worked tirelessly over the last several
years to help patients to grow their own and access otherwise
unobtainable medicine safely and regularly. My own friend got great
tips as he struggled to grow his own. Mr. Murphy constantly
experimented with different strains to address specific ailments. He
was particularly proud of the patients he got off of Oxycotin, a
deadly, highly addictive pain killer.

PWT and its sister organization, Maui County Citizens for Democracy in
Action, registered thousands of voters, submitted legislation and
testimony at the state and county level to pursue a democratic change
to implement their dream of family cannabis farms. This was based on
the Legislature's own recommendation in a 2004 report for secure
growing facilities to address the glaring lack of safe access for
those who can't or won't grow their own. PWT regularly invited law
enforcement to help create a system that protected patients and the
public interest at the same time.

The response: MPD against program in its entirety on grounds of
"public safety" and may violate federal policy. HPD "Oppose any
effort." No cooperation. Then the hammer comes down.

It is obvious that the amount of money and power that has flowed to
law enforcement to maintain prohibition will be difficult to overcome.
It is now time to follow the lead of Massachusetts and our own Big
Island, which voted to make marijuana enforcement the lowest police
priority, and decriminalize all cannabis at the state level.

President-elect Obama and Congress support federal decriminalization
proposals and I will work with our congressional delegation and my
legislative partners to offer a decriminalization/sentence reform to
remove law enforcement from decisions that belong between a patient, a
physician and a person's own conscience.

We can redirect those resources to building a healthy economically
vibrant community that addresses the root causes of drug abuse,
emphasizing wellness over disease. This can be a sustainable, peaceful
society with laws based on facts, not lies.

Change we can believe in? Yes, we cannabis!

Joe Bertram III is a member of the state House of Representatives
from District 11, South Maui.