My SPEECH belongs to me



Yet in December, the [U.S.] House approved bill HR 313 that would CRIMINALIZE even personal speech that merely _anticipates_ the use of drugs...

...in another country!

* The House Judiciary Committee defeated an amendment that would exempt speech that applied to drug use in nations where it is legal.

* It even defeated an amendment that would make the law enforceable only against real conspiracies among drug kingpins. (http://1.usa.gov/x4Hpxy)

* In an act of gutlessness, the House let the measure "pass" without even a voice vote.

* And author Rep. Lamar Smith boasted that the bill was "bipartisan" and had the support of the Obama Administration. (http://cs.pn/y2gi8E)

This means, if your own son says, "Next month, I'm going to Amsterdam, and I plan to get high," then you and your colleagues would sentence him to a federal prison.

AND BOTH PARTIES ENDORSED THIS?

It is pathetic that I even have to ask: What is the crime in merely talking about future drug use? How do we even know if it's true? And why would it matter to the U.S. government what one of its residents does while visiting a foreign country, when that something is LEGAL? Are we your children?

Under this bill... (http://huff.to/qu0MHb)

* A U.S. doctor who works with overseas doctors or government officials on needle exchange programs could be subject to criminal prosecution.

* A U.S. resident who advises someone in another country about how to run a medical marijuana dispensary would also be in violation of the new law, even if medical marijuana is legal in the country where the recipient of the advice resides.

I may or may not think some now-illegal drugs are unhealthy. I may or may not think using them are immoral.

But I will NOT sacrifice basic human rights, such as freedom of speech, just because I don't like where my neighbor takes his vacation.

HR 313 demonstrates how Drug Warriors are devoid of reason, disrespectful of the Constitution, and lacking in basic empathy and compassion. They show themselves to be brutal, backward, and fanatical by outlawing mere words about things they dislike.

I urge the entire Senate to oppose this atrocious bill. Kill HR 313 in committee, and if it or a similar bill comes to the floor, use all your parliamentary tricks, including filibuster, to defeat it.

SOURCE

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