• There is no democratic process anymore

• There is an irrefutable connection between drug prohibition and the crime, corruption, disease and death it causes. If you are not capable of understanding this connection then maybe you're using something far stronger than the rest of us. Anybody 'halfway bright', and who's not psychologically challenged, should be capable of understanding that it is not simply the demand for drugs that creates the mayhem, it is our refusal to allow legal businesses to meet that demand.

• Police are getting more and more desperate as their jobs lay on the line. Wow can you imagine police actually serving and protecting instead of bullying? It would be a new concept for most.

• It is sad that we have come to an age when in the"Land of the the Free" the citizens of this country have to watch out for Government "Storm Troopers" and jack booted thugs in the guise of law enforcement officers can run riot over "our"  constitutionally protected rights to petition the government for any reason.

• How the mighty have fallen thanks to distractions such as useless TV programming and other means.

• , it looks like it's gonna come down on you. There is no democratic process anymore. Just information for them to collect and hold against you later

• Standing together is a joke, get over it. That will never happen in our life time.

• You sure said a mouthfull!

• It seems US law enforcement no longer feels that the rule of law and the US constitution apply to them, in addition to this example there are a great many more. I will never understand america and it's "War on Drugs" (does everything have to be a "war" in that country?". Criminalizing drug taking simply does not work, for all the effort of that long war what has it earned america, higher rates of addiction than here in the Netherlands, a HUGE prison population (254 people per 100,000 as opposed to 24 per 100,000 here). I suspect the reasons for this idiotic attitude to drugs has much more to do with keeping up growth in the very large law enforcement industry that has pretty much become america's largest employer now that manufacturing is dead.

• It is apparent that there is a drive to make all 'americans' frightened of participating in signing petitions and voicing their genuine desires and beliefs. To make us frightened to appear in public wearing the wrong t-shirt or carrying the wrong book. This is the moment when it is absolutely vital to make a POINT of doing what is 'wrong'... publicly, without shame and with clear purpose.

• That was a fantastic statement. You have named it. The faceless thing everybody is afraid of, 'the truth'.

• Some commentors may say, 'so what's new?' but this scares the living CRAP outta me. I know we live in a surveillance society and we are told over and over and over again that cameras and neighborhood watch and all the rest are there to 'protect', but in reality, if you actually put your pen where your heart is and say or sign anything that is against 'da man's' world-view wishes, it looks like it's gonna come down on you. There is no democratic process anymore. Just information for them to collect and hold against you later. How did Orwell write '1984'? How did he know it was really going to be like this?

• thevenusproject.com thezeitgeistmovement.com zeitgeistmovie.com

• The thing about fighting for our rights. This is impossible. I was tazered, arrested, sat in jail for three weeks, and am now on probation for two years because I took my medication (an anti-anxiety pill). Basically the law can do whatever they want. No body pays attention or cares. It is too big. It not like we can tote around shotguns anymore and fight bloody wars because someone took our petition. For gods sake you would have to fight the dea, the local police, the feds, the swat team, the military, and if you got past all that, you would eventually just get tied up in the US judicial system which is just as corrupt as the people you fought for your rights. America has an agenda and they won. Like a game of chess the government saw their win ten moves ahead of the citizens, and we became their pawns. Its time to move to another country before they disallow that. Dave

• well the right to bear arms is your constitunional right as well i see a revalution coming , we need to win our freedom back!!

• COPS SAY LEGALIZE MARIJUANA! Support LEAP(Law Enforcement Against Prohibition).

• write on jack...when $hit happens we fight back

• F* the corporate media I now read Independent Media ((( i ))) For example Portland Indy Media .org

• SPOT ON, Mara!!! I've been right there with you complaining about usurpation of our rights ever since the Clinton Administration after the OKC incident. I'm afraid, though, it may be too late for the complacent populace to reverse it, since neither the big-government Republicans nor the even bigger-government Democrats are likely to loosen the power hold they have on us all. It's another step to that NWO thing...

• "totalitarian Statist-Corporatist Left somewhere between socialist and marxist." Sorry, but that statement makes absolutely no sense. You need to revisit your understanding of political/ideological classifications. Your statement is empirically false.

• Very well said, phree - spot on.

• phree wrote: "...right-wing fascist government like the National Socialist party." The National Socialists were not a "right wing" party. Their ideology is more far accurately described as totalitarian Statist-Corporatist Left somewhere between socialist and marxist.

• How Dependent Are Local Governments On "Forfeiture" To Pay Their Salaries? As the economy worsens, it is problematic police departments and local governments with budget short falls, will increasingly look to asset forfeiture of Citizens' property to pay police officer salaries and their operating costs. There are over 200 U.S. laws and violations that can subject property to civil asset forfeiture. For example a misrepresentation on a federally insured mortgage loan application can cause Civil Forfeiture of your home. No conviction is required: only "a preponderance of civil evidence" Not "clear and convincing evidence. Police in states that require conviction before property can be forfeited, get around this, by bringing federal police into an investigation to ensure a civil asset forfeiture can be prosecuted under federal jurisdiction requiring no conviction; this is called "adoption." The Feds then share the forfeited assets with state/local police and their governments. Setting the stage for widespread police civil asset forfeitures was Passage of HR1658 "The Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Act of 2000." When HR1658 passed—it killed the "5-year statute of limitations" for Civil Asset Forfeiture that prior gave police "Five Years" to seize property from the date "property" was involved in crime. Police now have five-years to seize property beginning from the date "police claim" they learned a "property" was involved in crime—that made it subject to civil asset forfeiture. Incorporated in the 2001 Patriot Act were "retroactive provisions" from "The Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Act of 2000" that retroactively applied to "assets already subject to government forfeiture", meaning "property already tainted by crime" (provided) "a specific property" was already part of or (later) connected to a criminal investigation in progress" when HR.1658 passed. Under the Patriot Act, witnesses can be kept secret while being paid part of the assets they cause to be forfeited. Most property and business owners that defend their assets against Government Civil Forfeiture claim an "innocent owner defense." Using an innocent owner defense can become a criminal prosecution trap for both guilty and innocent property owners. Any fresh denial to the government when questioned about committing a crime "even when you did not do it" can "involuntarily waive" your right to assert in your defense—the "Criminal Statute of Limitations" for prosecution has past. Any fresh denial of guild, even 30 years after a crime was committed may allow Government prosecutors to use old and new evidence, including information (discovered during a Civil Asset Forfeiture Proceeding) to initiate a criminal prosecution. For that reason many innocent property and business owners are reluctant to defend their property and businesses from Government Civil Asset Forfeiture. Re: waiving Criminal Statute of Limitations: see USC18, Sec.1001, James Brogan V. United States. N0.96-1579. Previously U.S. prosecutors were not allowed access to the Justice Department's "intelligence files" for domestic criminal prosecutions. In 2003 a court ruling lowered that barrier, allowing prosecutors to review old surveillance. In 2003, Attorney General John Ashcroft asked government prosecutors to review thousands of old intelligence files including wiretaps to retrieve information that prosecutors could use in "ordinary criminal prosecutions. Note that would include Civil Asset forfeitures." See: http://www.securityfocus.com/news/5452 WASHINGTON (AP) - "U.S. reviewing old, secret surveillance files in terrorism investigations." "4,500 files." By, Ted Bridis, The Associated Press 2003-06-04. Just recently Pres. Obama's signed Executive Order EO 12425 that put INTERPOL above the United States Constitution. Obama's Executive Order authorized INTERPOL to act within the United States without being subject to 4th Amendment Search and Seizure laws. It would appear INTERPOL can tap American phones and emails without a warrant. And that U.S. Police can use INTERPOL to circumvent the Fourth Amendment to arrest Americans and to forfeit their property by bringing INTERPOL into a criminal or civil investigation. Government can too easily take an innocent person's hastily written email, fax or phone call out of context to allege a crime or violation was committed to cause an arrest or Civil Asset Forfeiture. Congress could help protect Americans from police/government forfeiture abuse by passing legislation that raised the standard of evidence Government is required to use for Civil Asset Forfeiture from a mere "Preponderance of Evidence" to "Clear and Convincing Evidence."

• and alchohol

• I-1068 petitions kept at these businesses: Lynnwood S and L Quality Meats 16108 Ash Way Lynnwood WA 98087 425-787-1694 Closed Monday Tue-Sat 10am-7pm, Sun-11-5 Stone Age Tobacco 5800 198th Street SW Lynnwood 425-776-5439 info@stoneagepipes.com Hours: Monday to Saturday: 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday: 12 p.m. to 5 p.m.

• Prohibition is the problem, the cause of every problem it purports to solve. You know, I'll never understand these small government, free-market conservative types who continually wax lyrical about how the markets are an absolute authority that will magically make everything great if we listen to them. Yet with drugs, you have a scenario in which "the markets" have spoken loud and clear, and the vast majority of these individuals suddenly drop their hallowed principles and run away from them, blustering about jail and crackdowns and zero tolerance. It's pathetic, really.

• This article makes me wish people would take Journalism 101 before writing news stories. It's not that hard: you get the facts from one side, then you call the other side at get their version, then you bounce it back and forth a bit and print both claims with as much corroboration as possible. A "no comment" from the feds would at least show that the writer did something to verify this claim. As it stands, there is no way to tell if it is even remotely true or just some rant.

• That's among the top three best comments i've ever read online. Thx Mara.....Well said.

• They can file a Section 1983 complaint in federal court for the police violating their First Amendment right to petition. The First Amendment rights trump a lot of procedural B.S. local law enforcement might try to engage in to kill the petition drive.

• Behavior like this makes the cops fair game. If they keep it up, the day will come when cops will have to live among their own in sealed compounds.

• It would be instructive for all of us to research the influence that the cotton and paper industries have had on the criminalization of marijuana. Think "hemp".

• Well put Malcolm. This "drug war" is a war on americans. It was surreal listening to the dictator of the failed narco-state of Mexico, lecture our congresscritters on our immigration laws. Then received a standing ovation. Calderons Mexico has much stricter laws than us. The as&^hat also commented on the repeal of the assault weapons ban being the cause of all the deaths in the ongoing war for control of Mexico. That war is between crooked govt and organised crime. We send guns for drugs(remember Iran/Contra?)and ordinary Mexicans are murdered. Legalize NOW. Marijuana prohibition was briefly the no 1 issue on the Obama website and like all the other issues, is ignored. Rand Paul has some wacko beliefs but his ideas on War, Patriot Act, Drug War and the Fed are very important and desperately needed.

• Can't say nobody warned you about this. You were warned when the Patriot Act passed. You were warned when Total Information Awareness was quietly refunded. You were warned when the Office of Homeland Security was created. When the government coerced the telecoms into tapping your calls and recording your conversations. You were warned when an American citizen was arrested on American soil, denied his habeus rights, tortured to madness and then sentanced to life in prison. You were warned when 'protest zones' were instituted, when loyalty oaths were demanded to attend campaign speeches, and citizens with the wrong tee shirt or bumpersticker were visited and questioned by the FBI. We lost our freedoms *years* ago, while half the nation hid under the bed with their duct tape and plastic wrap and the other half wept from feeling the pain of the unfairly demonized Muslim.

• "Real rights are not given, they are taken! by those bold enough to declare and defend such rights, to the death if necessary." -- The problem is most citizens sit back and take crap from their government over & over and hope to change things when the right politicians are in power. But they always change once they get into power. We have to find other ways of waking up the masses. But we must also be prepared to defend our RIGHTS - by any means necessary. Jackson, Washington, Jefferson & Thomas Paine would NEVER tolerate this crap. How the mighty have fallen thanks to distractions such as useless TV programming and other means.

• Sorry, Jack. After Seattle 1999, the US Media is under the strictest of orders to censor all news coverage of any mass demonstration by leftists (no matter what the reason). The US Media is also ordered to blow out of proportion any teabagger demo anywhere in the US. That's why everyone from MSNBC to Fox News spent an entire day showing close-up footage of 300 teabaggers outside of Congress and completely ignored over 10,000 working families marching just two block away. As the Bush Admin said, and American MSM agrees, protestors have no message, they are simply attention-seeking liberals wanting to get on TV; they are a focus group and the Gov't doesn't pay attention to focus groups...

• We have rights because some of us (including most of those who founded the USA) had the clarity and determination to declare, claim and defend key rights above all else. The idea that rights can't be "proven" is nonsense. Can you prove you have the right to breathe earth's air? No, but you're damn well going to do it anyway. And whoever tries to stop you from breathing is someone you might have to kill - lest they kill you. Real rights are not given, they are taken! by those bold enough to declare and defend such rights, to the death if necessary. Some societies, such as many in Asia, see rights as more of a social or group attribute and much less emphasis is placed on individual rights (in general). And one can certainly make some strong arguments in favor of this group outlook. While in the western world (primarily western Europe and North America, but also going back to ancient Greece) the rights of the individual usually are held highest (with some exceptions obviously). That's our tradition and I think there should always be at least one major refuge in the world for complete individual freedom, with rights being curbed just short of the point where they start to limit the rights of others in that society.

• shelly....PLEASE send the voicemail you received from WestNet saying they were going to "copy the petitions" to "Sensible Washington." I signed the petition that was seized, and i'm TERRIFIED that federal drug cops...who have the power to strip me of my rights as a Washington medical marijuana patient, and who have EVERY motivation to make sure i-1068 doesn't pass, now have my name and address. TERRIFIED.

• Citizens have a right to petition their government and government just stole the petition and won't give it back. These guys wearing black boots, black uniforms and carrying truncheons? Reminds me of what happened in the 1930's just before 200 million people were murdered. There is some very bad indications of what is planned for this countries people, stealing petitions from the people is a huge no-no and alarm bells should be ringing.

• You think that AG Eric Holder will do anything? This is the same attorney general that cut loose the Black Panthers in Philadelphia who were terrorizing voters then stonewalled the investigation into the farce.

• Yeah, like that will ever happen. Your "hope and change" president is a complete fraud.

• Actually, the constitution asserts our rights. The right to Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness. We fought many wars and have spilled a lot of blood to protect and defend those rights. It's telling by the way that the oath of office for everyone in federal service from the lowly private to the president is to "protect the CONSTITUTION from all enemies, foreign and DOMESTIC" (emphasis mine)

• Aye.... why do you think they work so hard to divide us?

• Anyone know where I can sign one in Lynnwood?

• You need to write your representatives about this. Because complaining to "like minded" people is useless. Don't object, because it will take you less time time actually write your representatives by googling "write my representatives" than it will take you to tell ME why you think that is a waste of time. google: "write my representatives" now.

• This is exactly how I feel. No one can take rights from you either, you can only give them away. Arguing for a right is essentially arguing that you do not have that right.

• Check out the universal Declaration of Human Rights from 1948 [http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/ ]. It affirms certain basic rights for all humans on planet earth. Significantly, the United States was not a signer though the document was created at the UN on our soil at the behest of no less than Eleanor Roosevelt's passionate speech to prevent another right-wing fascist government like the National Socialist party from taking over. So it is not so odd that we have been taken over by such a party from the Right for the last 30 years. Now both parties are far to the right of center and universal human rights are being cast out by a far right Supreme Court. Read the document then decide if you are surprised by the seizure of speech? Look up the Bauhaus movement in pre-WWII Germany; they too were crushed out of existence.

• And more from the "Stupid Law Enforcement" division: http://www.kristv.com/news/marijuana-seizure-turns-into-yardwork/

• all we have to do is stand together....as one voice...and we can get whatever we want....they are scared of a united population. Jack

• This is a good thing! Much more attention will be paid now! Litigation against WDA should immediately be filed and this story needs to be pushed on all networks and internet sites relative to Wash. Have resolve and surety in your goals and you will achieve them. Have a great day everyone!

• So what's new?

• That itself is a pretty bold statement. If rights are intrinsic from where do they originate? What rights are they? Are they universal or just for Americans? Personally, I say there are no such things as rights. The only "right" one has is that of self-ownership. Nothing else because all other rights theory I've heard thus far depend on a God granting rights or claim there is "natural law" which a nice thing to say but damn hard to prove. To be sure, this is infuriating, and they ought to get those petitions back. I'm just remarking on so called "rights"

• ya we have a bill of rights....

• Drug prohibition seems absolutely absurd to me. Why do people care so much what others are doing with their time?

• Hide ur stuff

• thats why they are practicing on clubbing seagull's

• as being no stranger to the law, my uncle as a 20 yr cop and dad a former criminal defense lawyer of 32 years. they are more conservative than i, and yet both agree that the cops have overstepped bounds. that even as they may not agree with legalization they do believe the petitions should be returned and the entire task force be shook up. people may have different views and beliefs but partly what makes us human and definitely american; is the fact we have a choice. that we can govern ourselves and have the freedom which i and many other men and women have fought for is un american and unethical.

• The oinkers are fat and lazy. Uniforms psych ordinary people into power-trips. Imagine what they do to those insecure and predestined towards bullying others. This is only evidence against these jackbooted thugs. Put them in psych wards where they really belong! They shouldn't be allowed on the street with ordinary people. They're defective. Recall them, then arrest them. Maybe a little electricity can straighten out their "thinking". There's a reason they earned the pig moniker, don't forget it! Just a minute.. I smell bacon.

• Hey Everyone, I am from Colorado but I am willing to make some calls if you are. Two can play at this game. Everyone, start making some calls and run these guys ragged ;-) Dead end, anyone? LOL The State of Washington offers a 24-hour Marijuana Hotline for information leading to the arrest of Marijuana growers. All calls are confidential and may results in rewards up to $5,000.00. This number is 1-800-388-GROW (4769).

• ...and, how many have written to the White House about legalization? Besides me, that is. Three times... C'mon..if they don't know, they won't act.

• They're pushing back because they're afraid. It's the strongest evidence that we're on the verge of success.

• Thank you Sensible Washington and ToTT for bringing this out into the light. My signature was on one of the seized petitions and I'm pissed. Any law enforcement officer intelligent enough to strap on a gun would have known that signatures on a voter initiative petition are not evidence of any crime.

• Even though these things shouldn't shock me anymore, I can't help it! It's a complete outrage! While I personally don't drink or smoke (weed), I firmly believe that if alcohol is legal then marijuana should be to, both are mind-altering drugs. The level of harm, dangers, risks, complications and over all negative impact on society is much, much greater with alcohol then marijuana. Facts that are backed up by many independent statistics. So why is alcohol legal and marijuana not? I believe there are a few reasons and none of them have to do with 'protecting anyone' or 'not understanding the facts'. 1st. "The War on Drugs". The government not only makes a huge profit on the 'War', it also provides the all important 'fear factor' that is required so society will support it. 2nd. The pharmaceutical companies (and the government) wouldn't be able to exclusively control the production and distribution because it can be produced fairly easily by individuals themselves (1000 times easier and cheaper then making any type of alcohol). 3rd. None of the current 'powers that be' would be able to monopolize the industry. This would create huge shifts in the balance of power that dominates and regulates everything now for selfish and personal gain only. Because I guarantee that if there were ways for those 3 things not to happen, there would be more weed stores then Starbucks now. Peace, Light and Take Care! <a href="http://exploringlifespaths.com/">Exploring Life's Paths</a> <a href="http://explorethelittlepaths.com/">Explore The Little Paths</a>

• You have no constitutional rights. NO constitutional rights were violated. Rights can not be GRANTED they are intrinsic in your very existence. The constitution does not grant you rights. it FORBIDS government from interfering with your RIGHTS. Remember that folks its a CRITICAL distinction. If its GRANTED its not a right its a privilege. The constitution explicitly forbids them from doing what they did and they should be punished HARSHLY as its a violation of the supreme law of this land. Government has privileges WE have RIGHTS.

• Prohibition is a sickening horror and the ocean of incompetence, corruption and human wreckage it has left in its wake is almost endless. Prohibition has decimated generations and criminalized millions for a behavior which is entwined in human existence, and for what other purpose than to uphold the defunct and corrupt thinking of a minority of misguided, self-righteous Neo-Puritans and degenerate demagogues who wish nothing but unadulterated destruction on the rest of us. Based on the unalterable proviso that drug use is essentially an unstoppable and ongoing human behavior which has been with us since the dawn of time, any serious reading on the subject of past attempts at any form of drug prohibition would point most normal thinking people in the direction of sensible regulation. By its very nature, prohibition cannot fail but create a vast increase in criminal activity, and rather than preventing society from descending into anarchy, it actually fosters an anarchic business model - the international Drug Trade. Any decisions concerning quality, quantity, distribution and availability are then left in the hands of unregulated, anonymous, ruthless drug dealers, who are interested only in the huge profits involved. Many of us have now, finally, wised up to the fact that the best avenue towards realistically dealing with drug use and addiction is through proper regulation which is what we already do with alcohol & tobacco, clearly two of our most dangerous mood altering substances. But for those of you whose ignorant and irrational minds traverse a fantasy plane of existence, you will no doubt remain sorely upset with any type of solution that does not seem to lead to the absurd and unattainable utopia of a drug free society. There is an irrefutable connection between drug prohibition and the crime, corruption, disease and death it causes. If you are not capable of understanding this connection then maybe you're using something far stronger than the rest of us. Anybody 'halfway bright', and who's not psychologically challenged, should be capable of understanding that it is not simply the demand for drugs that creates the mayhem, it is our refusal to allow legal businesses to meet that demand. No amount of money, police powers, weaponry, diminution of rights and liberties, wishful thinking or pseudo-science will make our streets safer, only an end to prohibition can do that. How much longer are you willing to foolishly risk your own survival by continuing to ignore the obvious, historically confirmed solution? If you still support the kool aid mass suicide cult of prohibition, and erroneously believe that you can win a war without logic and practical solutions, then prepare yourself for even more death, corruption, terrorism, sickness, imprisonment, unemployment, foreclosed homes, and the complete loss of the rule of law and the Bill of Rights. "A prohibition law strikes a blow at the very principles upon which our government was founded." Abraham Lincoln The only thing prohibition successfully does is prohibit regulation & taxation while turning even our schools and prisons into black markets for drugs. Regulation would mean the opposite!

• fight back...find where the cops live and burn them out. duh. weak pussies.

• Pretty sure that's not prohibited--ballot petitions are publicly available anyway, and I'm not aware of limits on profiling based on political action--which of course they do LOTS of.

• Holy .... I hope they can't copy and keep those. That's the old building a list of people to harrass gammit. I'm pretty sure that's very anti-constitutional. That'd be like going to a rally and taking license plates....Oh they did that. It'd be like sending undercover people into a lawful assembly to gather names.....Oh they did that too!

• I have audio of the detective stating she is going to "copy" the initiatives then return them. She left the voicemail on my phone this morning. Can they even legally keep copies of those initiatives? & is there an attorney on this case that I can forward her voicemail message to?

• Police are getting more and more desperate as their jobs lay on the line. Wow can you imagine police actually serving and protecting instead of bullying? It would be a new concept for most.

• And Dangerous... its a lot easier and safer to pick on sick cancer patients in wheelchairs. Krieger replied to Jo Diggs: Cops and real crime......I don't get the connection? How does that pay the bills? Sounds expensive.

• Cops and real crime......I don't get the connection? How does that pay the bills? Sounds expensive.

• Wow, dont those stupid cops have any real crime to contend with? I mean seriously. Lou www.complete-anonymity.at.tc

• Lousy Rat Bastards!

• I second that motion, that one is out of the ball park!

• This is sad news. Things are worse than I previously thought for our democracy, our rights and our liberties.

• The US Department of Justice should be ordered to investigate this crime for possible charges against WestNet for violating the constitutional rights of every signator on the petitions! The US Attorney General and the President should be appalled at this violation of the democratic process!!!

• looks like free speech is gone. we are becoming like hitlers germany and cubas fidel castro. everyone is in our business,we are watched 24/7 . america is rapidly taking freedom away in the name of the so called drug war,or as I call it war on americans.

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