DRUGS VIOLATE MY PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS

On Jan. 12, 2010, Assemblyman Tom Ammiano's bill AB-390 will be voted
on by the Public Safety Committee. If it passes, it's scheduled to
move on to the Public Heath Committee the very same day.

I believe that Assemblyman Ammiano is violating the Constitutional
rights of millions of Californians, and his own oath of office by
introducing legislation to legalize marijuana.

How?

The 5th amendment to the United States Constitution states: "no person
shall be deprived of life, liberty or property, without due process."
Procedural due process guarantees the Government can not deprive one
of their right to Life, Liberty, or Property, without adequate notice.
Your Liberty can not be taken without procedural due process.
Substantive due process places substantial limits on Governmental
infringement of fundamental, constitutionally protected rights.

In fact, it is illegal to deprive a citizen of this right. The Supreme
Court added behavior that "shocks the conscience" as to what
constitutes a violation of due process.

As I stated, the 5th amendment states "no person shall be deprived of
life, liberty or property without due process." This right was
extended to each state by the 14th amendment.

The 14th amendment not only protects our right to life, liberty and
property, but it also guarantees our right to the pursuit of
happiness, as evidenced with Meyer v. Nebraska.

Because law abiding, tax paying citizens, do in fact have a
constitutional right to the Pursuit of Happiness, marijuana
legalization is a direct violation of that Constitutional right, for
the following reasons.

1. An individual's drug use is not confined solely to the user, rather
it rudely intrudes on the daily lives of law abiding citizens
throughout the state.

2. There is monumental evidence that proves the correlation between
drug use and increased crime.

3. There is significant evidence that proves drug use severely impacts
the quality of life for entire neighborhoods and communities.

4. All legitimate law enforcement groups oppose marijuana
legalization.

5. The FDA has declared that marijuana has no medicinal
value.

6. Marijuana use is against federal law.

7. More people are in treatment facilities for marijuana use then for
all other drugs combined.

8. Marijuana use causes respiratory ailments, lowers immune systems,
causes mental illness, and aversely impacts short term memory.

9. Marijuana use contributes to California's 24.2 percent high school
drop out rate, which costs roughly $46.4 billion, according to a UC
Santa Barbara study.

10. The sale of marijuana for profit is illegal.

11. We are fully aware of the fact that marijuana legalization
advocates have outright lied about their true intention from the start.

Individually, every California state legislator is required by law to
take the oath of office. "I solemnly swear that I will support the
Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of
California, against all enemies foreign and domestic " Therefore, it
is a direct violation for any state legislator to introduce, author or
co-author legislation to legalize marijuana, as it blatantly violates
the constitutional rights of millions of California citizens.

While drug legalization advocates may portray themselves as victims,
often espousing that they have a constitutional right to use
marijuana. Our constitutionally protected right to life, liberty, and
the pursuit of happiness is blatantly violated by marijuana
legalization. Drug users can not insinuate that their right to use
somehow trumps our right to live our lives, and bring up our children
without exposing them to the shady underworld of drug use. In this
instance the majority rules. I am stating that marijuana use, sales
and legalization violates our constitutional right to the pursuit of
happiness, under the 14th amendment.

The California state legislature is in direct violation of the
constitutional rights of law abiding citizens, their own oath of
office, and government code section 37100-37200, for permitting the
ongoing operation of marijuana dispensaries, and I also assert that
Assemblyman Ammiano is grossly violating our constitutional rights by
introducing and authoring legislation to legalize marijuana (AB-390).

- -- Linda Taylor