Yes, I Still Oppose The Lockdown — Principles and Fear in the Age of COVID-19

Brandon Turbeville
Activist Post
April 22, 2020

On March 24, I wrote one of my most controversial articles. "Two Hundred And Thirty Years Of Rights And Liberties Shredded: Why I Oppose The Lockdown."

Of course, nothing said in the article should ever be considered controversial. I merely stated my opposition to the "Lockdowns" taking place all across the country, the violations of the 1st and 4th Amendments, and the deliberate crashing of the economy. In a well-educated rational society, such a statement would raise no eyebrows and even agreement would be expressed in the generic, "yes, of course" manner. But a well-educated rational society we do not have. In its place, is a society of emotion and fear and that is perhaps the most dangerous kind. 

In response to my article, I was treated to the typical responses that one might expect in the latter type of society. I saw criticism that I was putting money over people, claims that I was ignoring the severity of the virus, and insinuations that I was selfishly holding on to "rights" that apparently only exist in times of peace, prosperity, and good health. Further absurd accusations came that anyone who opposed the "lockdown" is a right wing extremist or even a neo-Nazi. 

On numerous instances, I was arrogantly challenged by another writer to "give it a week" and see if my position is still the same. Presumably, the virus outbreak would have worsened by then and I would be so horrified by the death and horror around me, I would retract my previous position about rights being sacred and come to love Big Brother. In a week, I would acknowledge that 2 + 2 = 5 and join the masses calling for lockdowns and shutdowns and whatever else "authorities" have in store for us. 

Well, it's been nearly a moth and my position is the same. It will be the same in another week and in another. What my critics, of course, fail to understand is that, if one has rights, those rights do not take a back seat to their fear of getting sick, being a victim of a terror attack, or of dying by any means. Ever. 

Two Hundred and Thirty Years of Rights and Liberties Shredded: Why I Oppose The Lockdown

Brandon Turbeville
Activist Post
March 24, 2020

Although it was nearly twenty years ago, I can remember 9/11 like it was yesterday. I remember the shock of hearing about the planes crashing into towers, at first believing it was a tragic accident and quickly learning it to be otherwise. I remember being told that 19 hijackers, part of a fundamentalist plot to destroy America, were behind the attacks and that the mastermind was a man in a cave in Afghanistan named Osama bin Laden.

As all of America was glued to their television screens, many rushed out to give blood in an effort to at least do something to help one another. George W. Bush's answer for Americans was to go to work and then go out and shop. Americans dutifully complied. But the government's answer, in tandem with mainstream media, was also to be afraid. Very afraid. Americans also complied with this request, perhaps more than any other.

In the days and weeks after the initial shock, a college professor informed me about a bill called the PATRIOT ACT that would essentially eviscerate much of the Constitution and Bill of Rights. After class, I questioned him further about the bill, which he explained, and suggested that if I really wanted to understand what was happening, I should read 1984 by George Orwell. I went home and did just that and was surprised to learn that not only was he right, but that I was watching what I was reading happen in front of me in real life.

I watched as the fear of speaking your mind and saying certain words became known as freedom. I watched as Americans came to assume that their communications were listened to, frightened of what they said, but justifying it as they praised their country for being unlike the totalitarian governments of the past. Peace became war. Any suggestion that invading Afghanistan was wrong was unpatriotic. In fact, any criticism of the government was considered unpatriotic and anyone who valued freedom over temporary security was borderline a traitor.

You Have No Rights When It Comes To Vaccines NJ Committee Declares

Brandon Turbeville
Natural Blaze
April 9, 2018

NJ State Congress Committee Declares Citizens Don’t Have The Right To Disagree With Or Skip Vaccines
With the ability to call the United States a free country no longer a viable option, the Federal government as well as the states are working to eliminate the last remaining outposts of individual choice and freedom that remain. This is precisely what the New Jersey state legislature is attempting to do when it comes to the right of individuals and parents to choose whether or not their children are vaccinated.

Many New Jersey residents, however, are not giving up without a fight and that is precisely why the last meeting of the Assembly Health Committee devolved into chaos after the committee voted to launch an assault on individual choice.

The bill, if it passes, will require families to provide schools with a notarized document explaining in detail how vaccination “would violate, contradict, or otherwise be inconsistent” with their religious beliefs if they are seeking a religious exemption. They will be forced to prove they aren’t using the religious exemption as a result of their “philosophical” or “safety” concerns.

The bill will allow students to be exempt from vaccines if and only if they meet the following requirements:

• A written statement submitted to the elementary or secondary school, or the institution of higher education, by a licensed physician requesting exemption "based upon valid medical reasons." 
• Documentation explaining how the administration of the vaccine conflicts with the religious tenets or practices of the student. 
• A written statement, to be notarized, signed, and sworn by the person submitting the statement, which includes an explanation of the nature of the person's religious tenet or practice that is implicated by the vaccination 
• A statement acknowledging that the person understands the risks and benefits of vaccination to the student and the public health and acknowledges that the student may be excluded from attendance at the student's school or institution of higher education in the event of the occurrence of a communicable disease. (source taken from the Princeton Patch) 

It’s Official: US Is Seeking Death Penalty In Drug Cases – But Not For Big Pharma

Brandon Turbeville

Natural Blaze

March 23, 2018

When Donald Trump suggested imposing the death penalty in drug-related cases, many people thought he was just spouting off at the mouth. Unfortunately, his statements were not just typical Trump talk. They are now official Justice Department policy.

U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions instructed Federal Prosecutors on March 21 to begin seeking the death penalty in drug-related cases where it is “appropriate.”

Sessions and his Justice Department are claiming that the policy is being implemented to counter the opioid epidemic. Sessions’ mandate comes after Donald Trump called for executing opioid dealers and traffickers and for harsher sentences in regards to trafficking.

Sessions apparently did not catch the irony of his statement that “in the face of all this death, we cannot continue with business as usual” as he was in fact calling for more death.

“Drug traffickers, transnational criminal organizations, and violent street gangs all contribute substantially to this scourge. To combat this deadly epidemic, federal prosecutors must consider every lawful tool at their disposal,” he said.

But Sessions did not call for the death penalty for anyone in Big Pharma who is almost single-handedly responsible for the opioid crisis. In fact, he could turn to his own agencies and speak to former DEA agent Joe Rannazzisi who ran the DEA’s Office of Diversion Control.

Rannazzisi states plainly that Big Pharma and its distributors intentionally pumped opioids into American communities knowing that they were addictive and knowing that people were dying. He also says that they did so knowing it was illegal.

Tennessee Sheriff Humiliates Himself After Busting 21 Stores Selling CBD

Brandon Turbeville

Natural Blaze

March 13, 2018

The United States currently maintains the largest incarcerated population in the world. It routinely sees armed men throw men, women and children to the ground, guns drawn, and subsequently thrown into cages over the possession of plants. The police state has ballooned and Americans have been terrorized for decades as a result.

But just when you think it couldn’t get any worse than the laws themselves, the Rutherford county sheriff’s office in Tennessee has stepped in to demonstrate that cops don’t need laws to conduct raids, make arrests and close businesses.

In fact, they don’t even need to know what they are arresting people for or what the offending substance may or may not do.

They may not even need to know what the substance is. In fact, at least when it comes to the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office, the Smyrna Police Department, Murfreesboro Police Department, La Vergne Police Department, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, DEA, and FBI. There doesn’t seem to be a limit on what they might not know.

In mid-February, Rutherford County Law Enforcement along with the aforementioned agencies, received a court order from Circuit Court Judge, Royce Taylor, to conduct 23 raids, close 23 stores, and issue 21 indictments over sales of CBD products.

“We’d like to inform the parents to be aware of what your children are bringing home with them,” said Rutherford County Sheriff Mike Fitzhugh.

Did Trump Hint At Future Death Penalty For Drug Dealers?

Brandon Turbeville

Natural Blaze

March 5, 2018

Ever since he took office, Donald Trump has been hinting at an even tougher drug policy than his predecessor, even after decades of an entrenched police state that has overseen the largest incarceration numbers in the world.

Trump’s hints were followed up by Attorney General Jeff Sessions frightening and idiotic statements regarding marijuana and thus assuring Americans that they would endure at least four more years of freedom-crushing legislation and enforcement, incarceration and violence over plants and substances any free human being should have the right to consume if they so choose.

Now, only days after stating that he would like to “take the guns first, go through due process second,” Trump is now hinting at the possibility of calling for the death penalty for drug dealers.

Invoking mass murderer Rodrigo Duterte, Trump stated,

The answer is you have to have strength and you have to have toughness. The drug dealers, drug pushers – they’re really doing damage. Some countries have a very, very tough penalty, the ultimate penalty and, by the way, they much less of a drug problem than we do. So we’re going to have to be very strong on penalties.

Of course, there are countries that don’t have drug laws, or at least have decriminalized the use of drugs that also have much less of a drug problem than the United States. Not only is there no evidence that harsher penalties reduce drug usage, there is plenty of evidence that harsher penalties do nothing but exacerbate the problem, all while creating a national gulag system and a drain on public wealth in the process.

More Authority For Mental Health Agencies Not A Solution To Mass Shootings – Dangerous Course For Civil Liberties

Brandon Turbeville

Natural Blaze

February 27, 2018

After another tragic mass shooting, this time in a Florida high school, Americans are once again caught in a whirlwind of emotion, anger, fear, and debate. As per the usual, the mainstream corporate press has launched an undeniably biased anti-gun campaign that has the nation debating whether or not unalienable rights are actually unalienable. The gun argument aside, however, there is another topic being discussed in relation to the shooting as a possible solution to such incidents in the future – greater “mental health” programs and interventions.

The argument is simple since virtually no rational person would deny that an individual who would open fire on innocent people must have some level of mental health issues. The argument is thus that mental health services should be more available and that they should also have more authority to intervene. The former point is not contentious and it shouldn’t be. Unfortunately, the latter point doesn’t seem to be too contentious either and it should.

Like the medical industry, the psychiatric industry (which is firmly connected to Big Pharma and the police state), already has a broad range of assumed and legally backed authority. In fact, it’s a safe bet that most Americans don’t know just how much authority their mental health “authorities” actually have. They don’t know that these individuals are able to make subjective judgments on others with no basis in fact or logic that result in the detention, arrest, evaluation, hospitalization, and medication without consent. This isn’t the police state of the future, it’s the police state of today.

Keep in mind, these subjective decisions aren’t even made only in situations that warrant immediate concern; i.e. a patient is hallucinating demons and believes he should kill his mother who is possessed by a demon. Those situations exist, of course, but so also do situations that involve no risk to others such as delusions, depression, and paranoia. This practice is sold to many on the basis that someone suffering from these diagnoses could harm themselves or others. In other words, on the basis of pre-crime and completely devoid of the basis of individual rights not to be detained, kidnapped, held hostage, and medicated against their will by someone else who thinks they know what is best for them.

Rules Is Rules – UK Govt Forces 6-Year-Old To Suffer 30 Seizures A Day, No Weed For You

Brandon Turbeville

Natural Blaze 

February 20, 2018

Great Britain is proving just how great it is, and it is using a six-year-old-boy to do it. Proving that the Western world is a symbol of oppression, not freedom, the UK Home Office has rejected a plea from Alfie Dingley’s family and even MPs to allow Alfie access to cannabis to treat a rare form of childhood epilepsy that can cause up to 30 seizures a day and numerous hospital visits.

Of course, one could ask the obvious question: Why does anyone have to plea to use a plant in a country that never shuts up about how free it is?

SEE: UK About to Legalize Cannabis? Parliament Decides This Week

For the Dingleys, there simply isn’t 200 years worth of waiting while the dying British Empire is dragged, kicking and screaming into the 21st Century, or any century for that matter. That is why the Dingleys did the only thing they could do for their child – leave the UK and travel to the Netherlands where they could access medical cannabis.

The results aren’t that surprising – Alfie’s seizures were dramatically reduced even at times going more than three weeks without having a seizure.

Unfortunately for them, without medical insurance, the treatments were too expensive so they were forced to return to the UK where harmless plants result in jail.

Europe Cries 'Never Again' As It Repeats History of Censorship And Euthanasia

Brandon Turbeville
Activist Post
February 2, 2018

After Europe’s tragic experience during the second world war at the hands of Nazis, many Europeans have prided themselves as being the tip of the spear of “tolerance,” “anti-racism,” and “liberal” policies. Though the horrors of the Soviets and Communism are rarely mentioned, the horrors of Hitler are repeatedly bashed upon the heads of Europeans with the requisite collective guilt and trained need to atone for the crimes their grandparents and great grandparents were allegedly responsible for. Of course, the older generation was simply cannon fodder for the great powers of their time and it was the same power structures and elitists maintaining their positions today that were responsible for the horrors on all three sides but still the general public is viewed as responsible for the atrocities committed in their name, despite risking their lives for even speaking out in dissent at the time.

For years, the European, particularly German, chant, has been “Never Again!” Unfortunately, as Europeans rehash the horrors of Nazi Germany and scream “Never Again!” they are unaware that what they have pledged never to do again is indeed happening again. This time, the old veneer of nationalism is gone, however, and the “global community,” “tolerance,” and “anti-racism,” has taken its place.

But while nationalism may have died in Europe long ago, totalitarianism is alive and well and the march to the concentration camps and mass slaughter is ramping up yet again, following the same path as it did in the first quarter of the last century.

The familiar progression of disarmament, banning free speech and dissent, and the eugenic-based “euthanasia” of the mentally ill, disabled, and other “undesirables” has reappeared once again on European soil, this time under the guise of “liberalism” and “tolerance.”

UK Govt Says Russia Behind Citizens Questioning Vaccines, Calls Emergency Meetings

Brandon Turbeville

Natural Blaze

November 30, 2017

The United States has become a laughing stock of the world as a result of its decent into neo-McCarthyism and anti-Russian hysteria. From blaming Russia and Vladimir Putin personally for hacking American elections, making Hillary Clinton lose the election, trying to establish a Fourth Reich, invading Syria and Ukraine, arming North Korea and creating an army of scary alt-right white supremacist Nazis waiting to take over the government and burn down the country.

Russia and Putin have now taken the place of Al Qaeda and ISIS as the great bogeyman in place to scare Americans into doing whatever they’re told. Europe also has fallen in line with the American insanity proving that the virus of cultural disintegration travels both ways across the Atlantic.

But now England is attempting to leapfrog the United States in terms of the most ridiculous anti-Russian propaganda possible. This time, it is being reported by The Mirror that Russian cyber units at the behest of Vladimir Putin himself are hard at work propagandizing and attempting to convince people in Britain not to get vaccinated.

As The Mirror reports:

Russian cyber units are spreading false information about flu and measles jabs in the UK, experts warn. 

FDA, DEA Launch Massive Assault On Kratom – Drug War For Miracle Plant Ramping Up

Brandon Turbeville
Natural Blaze
November 16, 2017

To no one's surprise, the U.S. government, after hysterically declaring a "national emergency" over America's opioid crisis, is once again setting its sights on Kratom, the non-addictive natural plant that has helped thousands of Americans wean themselves off opioids.

In 2015, the DEA announced its plans to place Kratom on the list of Controlled Substances (in the same scheduling level as heroin to be exact) but, amid public outcry, the agency backed off, deferring to FDA "review" and "advice." Many optimistic  Kratom activists were tempted to rest on their laurels, trusting that the FDA would prove to be more reasonable in relation to Kratom and hoping the testimonials, overwhelming public support for Kratom, and the science itself would win the day.

As is typically the case in life, the optimists were sorely disappointed.

The FDA, long known to be essentially run by Big Pharma, has now joined the ranks of the DEA (which also placed CBD oil on the list of controlled substances on the same level as heroin) in a scathing attack on Kratom, signalling that the end may be nigh for the miracle plant if activists do not succeed in fighting back both behemoth agencies who act as the enforcement arms of Big Pharma, the private prison industry, and the police state.

As the Washington Post reported,

The Food and Drug Administration issued a strong warning Tuesday to consumers to stay away from the herbal supplement kratom, saying regulators are aware of 36 deaths linked to products containing the substance.

Is The SB277 Vaccine Law Causing LA Schools' Numbers To Drop?

Brandon Turbeville
Natural Blaze
November 16, 2017

Attendance in the Los Angeles Unified School District is dropping by relatively dramatic numbers and some are suggesting the reason is the SB 277 law recently passed in California removing exemptions to vaccines for all school children.

School Districts are, as one might suspect, more worried about how this reduction affects the bottom line.

As Mike Szymanski of LA School Report writes,

LA Unified’s enrollment is dropping even faster than the district projected. 

There are 12,604 fewer students than last year, a 2.51 percent decline, last month’s official head count showed. The district had anticipated only a 2.1 percent drop. 

The difference means there will be $17 million less in the 2018-19 budget, and an additional $18 million less in the 2019-20 budget, according to a superintendent’s reportto be presented to the school board Tuesday. 

School districts receive their funding from the state based on average daily attendance, which is determined each year on norm day. That day, which was Sept. 15 this year, is when school populations are finalized for the year and teacher class sizes are adjusted.

SC Senator Calls Out Law Enforcement, Slams Politicization Of Police

Brandon Turbeville

Natural Blaze

September 4, 2017

When the South Carolina State Legislature was working on a bill to address the opioid crisis, the Senate unanimously voted to attach an amendment to the bill that would allow the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control to work with doctors in the VA to greater understand whether or not the possibility of using medical marijuana for treatment would be useful in the state.

If one could even call this a step in the right direction, it was of the smallest of baby steps.

However, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Lobby immediately sprang to action, packing the hearing rooms and spreading disinformation about the bill. The goal was simple: to prevent even the discussion of the possibility that medical marijuana may be beneficial in certain instances.

Even the thought of discussing whether or not to discuss the possible benefits of medical marijuana brought out the dinosaurs and the “just doing my job”-bers to continue their campaigns of lies, deceit and authoritarianism on the general public South Carolina.

Of course, this being South Carolina, there is always a nice dose of puritanical stubbornness thrown into the mix as well. But what is interesting, is that the famous tagline of law enforcement, “don’t blame me, I’m just doing my job” only applies to vicious beatings, exorbitant and irritating traffic tickets, caging of peaceful people, and kicking in the doors of families in the dead of night.

When there is a discussion of the possibility of possibly lightening up by one one-thousandth of a percent on the state’s Soviet-style drug laws, suddenly the just-doing-my-job-bers start trying to do the job of politicians, doctors and constituents. Funny how that works.

WikiLeaks Release Confirms What “Conspiracy Theorists” Have Known For Years

Brandon Turbeville
Activist Post 
March 13, 2017

The recent Wikileaks release is promising to be a much bigger bombshell than anything Edward Snowden ever released. Unlike Snowden, however, the corporate press in the West is not devoting 24/7 coverage with all the bells and whistles of an intentional push to promote the story. Instead, it is largely the alternative and independent press that is giving attention to the recent Wikileaks announcement. Interestingly enough, the mainstream press reports are largely focusing on accusations that Wikileaks has “joined the Trump administration” or that the leaker of the information is a traitor.

As part of a series of leaks regarding the CIA, Wikileaks has released “Vault 7,” containing over 8,000 documents coming from the CIA’s Center For Cyber Intelligence located in Langley.

So far, the 8,000 documents are only part of the first release, “Year Zero,” which reveals the CIA’s “global covert hacking program” and its “weaponized exploits” as well as the fact that it has used these tools against products produced by “Apple's iPhone, Google's Android and Microsoft's Windows and even Samsung TVs, which are turned into covert microphones.”

Wikileaks claims it has received the information from a source inside the CIA’s CCI.

As Zero Hedge writes,

Among the more notable disclosures which, if confirmed, "would rock the technology world", the CIA had managed to bypass encryption on popular phone and messaging services such as Signal, WhatsApp and Telegram. According to the statement from WikiLeaks, government hackers can penetrate Android phones and collect “audio and message traffic before encryption is applied.” 

Proposed Bill To Block Mandatory Microchipping Of Citizens

Brandon Turbeville

Natural Blaze

March 7, 2017

A new bill being proposed by a Nevada state senator is drawing attention not only from Nevada citizens but from people across the country.

This is because Senate Bill 109 proposed by Senator Becky Harris is seen by many as a preemptive measure against the obvious push to implant humans with microchips that is marching forward in virtually every country on the face of the earth.

Harris says the inspiration for the bill came from one of her constituents and told the Senate Judiciary Committee “as I began to look into the issue, I was surprised with the merit that I believe the issue warrants.” Her legislation would prevent RFID chips or any other technology that stores personal data or can be used to track an individual from being implanted in human beings without their consent.

It would also make mandatory microchipping a Class C felony.

“This is a completely new issue,” Harris stated. “I just want a safety measure in place until we better understand the technology and the reasoning behind people’s desire to require implanting chips.”

Similar legislation is already in place in Wisconsin, Oklahoma, California and North Dakota. Despite the fact that there was no opposition to the legislation in Committee, there has been no further action taken so far in regards to its passage.

Predictably, some are attempting to malign Harris’ bill ironically as government overreach as the Washoe County Deputy Public Defender attempted to do in his own statement.

South Carolina Considers Legalizing Medical Marijuana

Brandon Turbeville

Natural Blaze

January 12, 2017

As 2017 begins, South Carolina is doing its best to tiptoe in the 21st century. Making headlines all across the state, a new bill that many people are calling the South Carolina Compassionate Care Act is making its way through the South Carolina House.

The topic has been debated before but has failed to pass largely because of the state’s authoritarian law enforcement lobby and fearful and hysterical anti-drug groups. The bill, however, is by no means an end to America’s failed drug war in South Carolina. It will fully regulate and control both production and patient access to medical marijuana. It also has specific guidelines and conditions that must be present in order for patients to qualify for access.

Among these are HIV AIDS, hepatitis C, glaucoma, cancer, ALS, Parkinson’s, autism, Crohn’s and PTSD. There would be a review board established and purchases would be limited to no more than two ounces every two weeks.

While we recognize that the hysteria and full-on police state over a harmless plant, corporate money interests and the person issues of many opponents is a massive stain on the legacy of humanity and the state of South Carolina, we can recognize this new bill as a small step in the right direction.

Brandon Turbeville Interview with Kayhan Newspaper - December 3, 2016

BrandonTurbeville

Kayhan Newspaper (Iran)

January 1, 2017

Interview conducted on December 3, 2016

HN: We are still not sure whether Trump is going to put his radical promises into actions or not. New York Times believes that Trump is stepping back from his views gradually. What do you think about it?

I’m not sure how radical Trump’s views ever were. I think because he gave lip service to some ideas – ending free trade, backing away from the war on Syria, etc. – that many people saw some of those views as radical. But that’s America in 2016. We, as the American people, are so unaccustomed to seeing views that differ even slightly from the status quo and the current course of events that even glaringly obvious ideas like the two I just mentioned are considered “radical.” Trump is naturally going to step back from his stated positions because he won the election and this is the time when politicians who promised peace, jobs, rights, etc. start backing away from the promises and start “seeing the value of the other side” and become “practical.”

While I saw Hillary Clinton as, by far, the worst option, make no mistake Trump is a fascist. I wouldn’t bet my money on total war avoidance simply because he won. In fact, I think a confrontation with Iran is still very much on the table with a Trump administration. You can see that by Trump’s own rhetoric.

HN:  Some analysis suggests that trump is not able to finish his four years period of presidency because of his immature beliefs and hard line views. What do you think?

Brandon Turbeville Interviewed by Cassius Kamarampi of Era of Wisdom.

Brandon Turbeville
BrandonTurbeville.com 
Cassius Kamarampi
Era Of Wisdom
October 27, 2016

Brandon Turbeville interviewed by Cassius Kamarampi of Era of Wisdom.



Part 1:



Part 2:

It’s Time To Abolish The DEA

Brandon Turbeville

Natural Blaze

August 31, 2016

The Drug Enforcement Agency has long targeted Americans with the most non-sensical and ridiculous type of propaganda in order to convince them that the agency itself is actually useful and not the scourge of a civilized nation that it truly is. After all, if you are going to continue to launch a full-on military operation and establish a police state against adults who choose to consume specific plants, throwing otherwise peaceful people into cages, ruining their lives, and even killing them in the process, you need some rather extreme and immediate reason to continue to exist.

For this reason, the DEA – in addition to fleets of aircraft, military uniforms, machine guns, and other forms of war gear – has been funded liberally for over forty years for the purpose of waging war against the same taxpayers who are forced to fund it. But in addition to the hardware, the DEA is also tasked with convincing Americans the drug war is just and that it must be won, much less waged. Indeed, the DEA needs to justify its robbing, pillaging, and killing of American citizens to the same American citizens who the DEA will rob, pillage, and kill.

As a result, we see the most ridiculous types of propaganda – from deformed boneless teenagers (caused by marijuana) to zombies (caused by marijuana) and even the drunken businessman who inadvertently funds al-Qaeda by buying weed at a swanky nightclub, we are constantly reminded that a world in which adults can freely choose what they put into their own bodies is merely a step in the direction to a world of crack-smoking toddlers, elementary schools full of heroin addicts, and puppies tripping on acid. We get it. If we don’t have a paramilitary police force doing everything we were told only anti-American tyrants do overseas, the world will come to a fiery end.

But what if everything or, at least the majority, that the DEA has fed to us in its decades-long existence is simply bullshit? What if marijuana isn’t the same as heroin? What if kratom is not the same as either? What if, in a free society, adults do have the right to take LSD if they want? What if the United States didn’t waste so much money on preventing allegedly free adults from consuming substances they obviously want to consume? What if the United States didn’t waste incredible fortunes on the prison industrial complex and putting nonviolent people behind bars? What if the United States did not have the highest incarceration rate in the world while still lecturing other countries on freedom and democracy overseas?

Effective Immediately: Illinois Decriminalizes Marijuana Possession

Brandon Turbeville

Natural Blaze

August 5, 2016

Illinois is now the most recent state to show signs that it is beginning to move in the direction of more sensible and responsible drug laws, particularly when it comes to marijuana.

This is because Governor Bruce Rauner signed legislation last week which makesIllinois the third largest state in the country to decriminalize minor marijuana offenses. The new law makes having 10 grams or less of marijuana a civil offense as opposed to a criminal one. Thus, the penalty for possession of over 10 grams will be a fine of up to 200 dollars.

The law also sets an official standard for what will be considered too impaired to drive. Previously, any trace amount of marijuana at all was considered impaired, an obviously oppressive and illogical standard since marijuana can remain in a person’s system for several weeks. The new law creates a standard of 5 nanograms of THC in the driver’s blood within two hours of consumption.

The governor had been expected to sign the bill despite the fact that he vetoed a similar piece of legislation last year. At the time of his veto, Rauner said that existing penalties for small marijuana offenses were too harsh and that “criminal prosecution of cannabis possession is also a drain on public resources.” We proudly welcome Governor Rauner to the 21st century.