The Morning Roar: Teen Faces Life Over Pot Brownies, Rep. Massie Eats Hemp on Live TV, Atlantic City Attempting to Bulldoze Home to Benefit Casino
Welcome to your Wednesday edition of The Morning Roar!Teen Faces Life in Prison Over Hash BrowniesEveryone loves brownies, and many people also love marijuana. It's only natural that lovers of both would find a way to combine the two into a snack that is both delicious and medicinal and/or mind altering (depending on the intent of the user.) Instead of marijuana, some people use hash oil in order to make their edible goods. For Texas teenager Jacob Lavoro, the decision to use hash oil in his brownies is altering more than just his mind - it may very well alter the state of his freedom for the rest of his life.Because Lavoro used hash oil instead of marijuana, possession of the brownies became a first degree felony, and allowed the state to use the entire weight of the brownies - about 1.5 lbs. - to determine the amount of the drug he would be charged with possessing. Every morsel of brownie - the sugar, the flour, chocolate - all count as "drugs" for the purpose of Lavoro's sentence, which if convicted could be between five years and life.Yes. You read that right. LIFE. In Prison. For Hash Brownies.There is rightful outrage over the possible sentence, including of course Lavoro's father, who told KEYE-TV:
Five years to life? I'm sorry, I'm a law abiding citizen. I'm a conservative. I love my country. I'm a Vietnam veteran, but I'll be damned ... this is wrong, this is damn wrong! If [Jacob] did something wrong he should be punished, but to the extent that makes sense. This is illogical. I'm really upset, and I'm frightened, I'm frightened for my son.
Unfortunately, even being a "law abiding citizen", being a conservative, "loving your country" and being a Vietnam vet do not get your family a reprieve from rights-infringing laws. As a self-identified conservative, it's quite likely that Mr. Lavoro has in the past supported the War on Drugs and many politicians who have done so as well. Even seeing his son face potential life in prison for the victimless non-crime of "possessing hash brownies" has seemingly not affected his view. He still believes his son should be punished, just not that much.When a society at large accepts the idea that people should be considered criminals for merely possessing certain plant matter, injustices like this will continue. Even if marijuana were fully legalized in all 50 states including Texas, the state would still have been able to prosecute Jacob Lavoro for possessing the hash oil. This is why, while I am glad groups such as NORML exist which specifically focus on marijuana, libertarians should emphasize a philosophy of individual rights, so that hopefully people will see that it is wrong to use violence upon others for possessing any item (short of perhaps, nuclear weapons) merely for the sake of possessing that item. This is the only way to ensure a future where humans are not thrown in a cage for merely possessing the wrong plant extract.Representative Thomas Massie Eats Hemp Seeds on Live TVSpeaking of illegal plants, Kentucky Representative Thomas Massie recently appeared on Fox's The Independents to discuss the Kentucky Commissioner of Agriculture's attempt to obtain hemp seeds that were legally portioned to the state in the most recent farm bill, but have been detained by the Feds. Kentucky had recently legalized hemp for industrial use despite a federal ban, and Massie's amendment to the farm bill further clarified the legality of the seeds in Kentucky. Yet, despite this, the DEA seized a shipment of hemp seeds and is currently holding them, for no remotely logical reason.Massie went as far as to eat live hemp seeds on air (and lived to tell about it!), to show how ludicrous the ban on hemp is. Watch below:http://youtu.be/DPC_KNGr8LUFor a full breakdown of industrial hemp, check out our own John Odermatt's tackling of the subject here. Atlantic City Attempting to Bulldoze Home to Benefit CasinoOf all the crimes committed by the state, there are few more obviously egregious than the use of "eminent domain", the tool by which governments seize property from its rightful owner in order to make it available for some sort of "public" use. This is bad enough even when property is seized to build something one could argue does legitimately benefit the public, such as a highway. But in Atlantic City, "public use" apparently includes the needs of casino owners. Reason reports on the story of Charles Birnbaum, who Atlantic City's Casino Reinvestment Development Authority (yes, that's a real agency that exists in real life) has determined that Birnbaum's home would be put to better use by the Revel Casino.
The present controversy arose in 2012 when Atlantic City officials announced a "South Inlet Mixed Use Development Project" designed to "complement the new Revel Casino and assist with the demands created by the resort." Although the specifics of the project remain vague—in fact, the state has yet to release any documents detailing all of the project's particulars—the CRDA has launched an aggressive campaign to snatch up various parcel of land. In February 2014, that land grab reached Charles Birnbaum, whose family has owned a home near the Atlantic City boardwalk since 1969. According to the CRDA, Birnbaum's family home must now be razed "for public use in connection with the South Inlet Mixed Use Development Project."In response, Birnbaum joined forces with the Institute for Justice, the public interest law firm that previously represented Vera Coking in her winning battle against the same state agency. "The so-called Project consists entirely of high-blown rhetoric and a handful of 'conceptual' drawings provided by the Revel Casino," Birnbaum and his lawyers told the court. "This project fails to satisfy any of the requirements that would allow CRDA to take the Birnbaum Family Home."
Much like the case of drug legalization, we must pursue a broader idealogical response in order to combat the idea of eminent domain. The extreme cases such as that of Charles Birnbaum help to highlight the problem, but ultimately it stems from how a large majority of the public views the concept of land and property. Many seem to view all land as for "the public", and view the government as the tool by property rights are assigned. In the libertarian view, property rights are merely an extension of natural rights, and property can only be legitimately obtained either via purchase from the legitimate owner, or through homesteading if the property is unowned. Eminent domain meets neither of these requirements.For more on the concept of homesteading, check out my interview with Timothy Terrell from the Lions of Liberty Podcast.The Lions of Liberty are on Twitter, Facebook & Google+Receive access to ALL of our EXCLUSIVE bonus audio content – including “Conspiracy Corner”, “Degenerate Gamblers” and the “League of Liberty Podcast” by joining the Lions of Liberty Pride and supporting us on Patreon!
