Sometimes genius surfaces in strange places, and there is certainly an element of genius in the new movie Guns and Weed: The Road to Freedom. The film is not perfect and it’s certainly not the slickest production, but it’s one hell of a smart, informative and entertaining film.

It starts from a brilliant idea: looking at gun rights and the legalization of marijuana as two linked issues which between them expose many of the problems with our government and in our society from a libertarian perspective. By looking at one right which is constantly under threat and another which has been taken away arbitrarily, the film explores the broader issue of the ongoing diminishment of our civil liberties by intrusive government.

The film was made by Michael W. Dean and Neema Vedadi. Dean is the writer and director. Vedadi is a featured performer and producer. Dean describes himself as a punk rock libertarian and is the former Chairman of the Republican Liberty Caucus of Wyoming. Vedadi is a weekend news anchor on ABC affiliate KEPR in Wyoming. Dean mainly appears playing backing guitar for Vedadi in some hilarious rap numbers. Iranian-American punk-rap is a musical genre I never really expected to see. Vedadi also plays a variety of roles in small skits and dramatizations in the film and he’s damned funny. Another asset to the film is a very pretty girl who fires a lot of guns while wearing a nice sun dress and does some excellent narration, credited as J-Tizzle. Also very effective were some of the medical marijuana users, especially a young couple afflicted with Krohn’s Disease and Multiple Sclerosis who use marijuana to ease the pain and discomfort of their conditions. I also found some of the detailed insights into the mechanics of the medical marijuana business very interesting.

The most familiar of the interviewees is Sheriff Richard Mack who is very highly regarded in civil libertarian circles, but the less prominent participants, many of them local gun owners, marijuana entrepreneurs and civil libertarians from Wyoming and Colorado are articulate and make lots of good points. They give personal and substantive perspectives on issues like the medical value of marijuana, prisons overflowing with non-violent offenders, the whole milk ban, problems with the justice system, free speech, the Mexican drug cartels, abuse of government power, the failures of democracy and a web of other issues which all link surprisingly logically to the two core subjects.

There are a lot of libertarian films out there and most take themselves way too seriously and are no fun at all. Quite a few shade over into areas of fringe politics and radical rhetoric which make them threatening to a mainstream audience. One of the great accomplishments of Guns and Weed is that it doesn’t take that route. It’s approachable and relatively non-threatening and doesn’t get preachy. It manages to soften its very serious message with humor, music and engaging performances. It’s informative but it’s also enjoyable.

Perhaps best of all, the whole of Guns and Weed is on YouTube in a series of linked segments and you can watch it in an hour and a half. I recommend it to everyone, especially those who still think the War on Drugs is a good idea. It might be just the thing for some of my Republican friends who understand the right to bear arms but haven’t yet realized how interconnected all of our civil liberties are. Go watch it and help it go viral!

On Saturday afternoon, Governor Gary Johnson was in Austin for a barbecue at Bartholomew Park sponsored by the Republican Liberty Caucus of Central Texas. RLC Chairman Dave Nalle captured the Governor’s remarks on video (part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4). He touched upon his background in business, his run for governor, and his positions on various political issues. You can watch and listen below:

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

Part 4:

In a coordinated action the national board of the Republican Liberty Caucus and the California state chapter for the RLC have released press releases announcing endorsement of California’s Proposition 19 which would legalize marijuana for personal use while leaving taxing of sales of Marijuana up to local jurisdictions and the state legislature. This is a major initiative for individual liberty and could be the beginning of ending the drug war and violence on the border.

Polling has shown growing support for the ballot measure, which started with limited public awareness, but has been gathering endorsements from all quarters and is now showing over 50% support in many polls. RLC endorsee John Dennis who is challenging Nancy Pelosi for her congressional seat is quoted in the press releases and also supports Proposition 19.

Here is the National RLC’s press release:

Here is the California RLC’s press release:

And the California RLC’s resolution on Proposition 19:

In this video, I narrate my most recent article at CAIVN- Jack Hunter style.

Opponents of cannabis legalization worry that it will have a detrimental effect on society. That feeling is understandable, but citing a Cato study, I take a look at Portugal where all drugs were decriminalized in 2001.

Ten years later not only has Portugal avoided a nightmare of spiraling drug addiction, all signs indicate that drug use in Portugal has declined.

Take a look.

And please Digg it up. Don’t have a Digg account? Get one!

On Saturday evening, the Republican Liberty Caucus of Virginia hosted its annual Convention in Arlington. The featured guest was former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson. This was the first RLCVA Convention in northern VA, since the 2009 Convention was held in Richmond.

New Officers include:

George Primbs, Woodbridge: Chair
Steven Latimer, Charlottesville; Vice-Chair
Cindy Trautz, Sterling; Secretary
Cliff Dunn, Newport News; Treasurer

At-Large Board members:
Mitchell Bemos, Arlington
Eric Brescia, Arlington
Christopher David Pille
Rick Sincere, Charlottesville

The RLCVA website is http://www.RLCVA.org/. The Caucus recently endorsed Michael McPadden for Congress in Virginia’s Fifth District. The primary is coming up in June.

Overall, it was a very successful event. Below are some photos from the event.

Gov. Gary Johnson discusses issues with a future candidate.

Members look on during the business session.

Gov. Johnson speaks with Matthew Berry, running for Congress in VA 09.

New Chairman George Primbs (far left) and other members look on during the business session.

Governor Johnson while he was speaking to the audience.

From the California Independent Voter Network:

“You read that right. Legalizing marijuana for recreational use by adults has more widespread support than President Obama’s administration. Pot legalization is also more popular than the recent health care bill that passed in Congress and has higher approval ratings than our handling of the Global War on Terror…

On page four of AP/CNBC’s poll report, respondents were asked if they thought the U.S. should treat marijuana and alcohol similarly. 44% thought that marijuana shouldn’t be treated any differently than alcohol, while another 12% even wanted less strict rules for marijuana than for alcohol- making a whopping 56% in favor of pot legalization.”

Read how marijuana legalization ranks against Obama’s approval ratings, our handling of the War on Terror, and the number of Americans who support the new health care law here.

According to the blog Libertarian Republican, Governor-elect Chris Christie (R) reiterated his support for legalizing the medical use of marijuana as long as the final bill contained safeguards to ensure that it did not end up encouraging the recreational use of the drug.

The legislation would also forbid patients from growing their own marijuana and using it in public, and it would regulate the drug under the strict conditions used to track the distribution of medically prescribed opiates like Oxycontin and morphine.

New Jersey is poised to become the 14th state to permit medical marijuana use.

The Republican Liberty Caucus of New Hampshire will host an educational forum with Gary Johnson on Saturday evening, January 23 in Concord.

Gary Johnson is the former two-term Governor of the swing state of New Mexico. He is the Chairman of Our America Initiative.

In 1999, Johnson became the highest-ranking elected official in the United States to advocate the repeal of drug prohibition. Saying the War on Drugs was “an expensive bust,” he advocated the decriminalization of both drug use and possession in order to save money and potentially regulate currently illegal drugs.

In the 2008 election campaign, Johnson endorsed Ron Paul for the Republican presidential nomination. He is an avid triathlete who runs extensively and abstains from all recreational drug use, caffeine, alcohol, and some sugar products.

The event will be a reception with a cash bar. Food will not be served, however, we’ll be inviting guests to join us at a local restaurant afterward, for further camaraderie and discussion. The event will be held at the Grappone Center in Concord, NH, and starts at 4:30pm.

REGISTER ONLINE today!

Proceeds from this forum will support pro-liberty Republican candidates for New Hampshire House and Senate. (Thanks to New Hampshire RLC Chair Jim Forsythe for organizing this event.)

Last August, I blogged at RLC.org about Cheye Calvo, the Mayor of Berwyn Heights in Prince George’s County, Maryland.

Last year, Calvo was sitting at home when a SWAT team barged into his home, shot his two dogs, and accused him of being a drug dealer. Calvo and his mother-in-law were handcuffed and interrogated for hours while surrounded by the dogs’ carcasses and pools of blood.

Police shot the Mayor’s seven-year-old black Labrador retriever, Payton, near the front door and then his four-year-old dog, Chase, also a black Lab, as the dog ran into a back room.

It became quite clear to everyone almost after-the-fact that the Mayor and his family were not drug dealers and Calvo says that he doesn’t even think the police considered that possibility before raiding the home.

Recently, the Maryland legislature passed a bill that was inspired by the SWAT team raid of Calvo’s home, called HB 1267, on SWAT Team Activation and Deployment Reporting.

The bill, also signed by Governor Martin O’Malley (D-Baltimore), requires any police agency in the state to review and report on SWAT team raids every six months. It also requires specifics about any raid, such as the reason for the deployment of the SWAT team, the legal authority for the SWAT raid, and the result of each activation and deployment.  Law enforcement agencies also have to report on whether a weapon was discharged by a SWAT team member, a forcible entry was made, or whether any person or domestic animal was injured or killed by a SWAT team member.

If local police agencies do not comply, then they will be reported to the Governor and the Legislative Policy Committee of the General Assembly.

This legislation will hopefully prevent future unncessary police raids on citizen’s homes.

Kudos to Maryland Republican Delegates Smigiel and McConkey for sponsoring the legislation along with the Democrats.

The Mayor and his wife, with their now-deceased dogs.

According to the Log Cabin Republicans, 36 GOP legislators in six Northeastern states (including several RLC-endorsed legislators) have voted to affirm individual rights on gay marriage votes. Widely-respected conservative commentator Cal Thomas recently wrote that perhaps its time for evangelicals to give up on the issue of gay marriage. He says:

“To those on the political and religious right who are intent on continuing the battle to preserve ‘traditional marriage’ in a nation that is rapidly discarding its traditions, I would ask this question: What poses a greater threat to our remaining moral underpinnings?

Is it two homosexuals living together, or is it the number of heterosexuals who are divorcing and the increasing number of children born to unmarried women, now at nearly 40 percent, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention? Most of those who are disturbed about same-sex marriage are not as exercised about preserving heterosexual marriage. That’s because it doesn’t raise money and won’t get them on TV. Some preachers would rather demonize gays than oppose heterosexuals who violate their vows by divorcing, often causing harm to their children. That’s because so many in their congregations have been divorced and preaching against divorce might cause some to leave and take their contributions with them.

The battle over same-sex marriage is on the way to being lost [for social conservatives]. For conservatives who still have faith in the political system to reverse the momentum, you are — to recall Harold Hill [in The Music Man] — ‘closing your eyes to a situation you do not wish to acknowledge’.”

As evidence of Cal Thomas’s commentary, the Log Cabin Republicans have recorded the following recent legislative action affirming equal (not special) rights for gays and lesbians:

· On March 23, the Vermont Senate passed marriage with the support of a majority of the Republican Conference.
· On March 26, twelve Republicans (including two RLC-endorsed legislators) provided the margin of victory for marriage equality in the New Hampshire House.
· On March 30, three Republicans (including the RLC’s Art O’Neill) on the Connecticut legislature’s Joint Committee on Judiciary voted to codify the state’s marriage equality ruling.
· On April 3, six Republicans joined their colleagues in the Vermont House to send marriage equality to the Governor.
· On April 3, the Iowa Supreme Court recognzied the right to marry in an opinion written by Republican-appointed Associate Justice Mark Cady.
· And on April 7, the Vermont House and Senate successfully overrode a governor’s veto to make Vermont the first state to enact marriage equality without the order of a court – and six courageous House Republicans provided the margin of victory.

There may also be a shift among at least some Republicans on the issue of decriminalizing (and taxing) marijuana and medical marijuana. In a New Hampshire vote earlier this week, nearly a dozen RLC-endorsed legislators (including Reps. Coffey, Ingbretson, McGuire, Hopper, Ober, Pratt, Reagan, Renzullo, Soucy, and Vaillancourt) voted for HB 648, which permits medical marijuana use in New Hampshire if prescribed by a physician. The bill, similar to the California law that has been under attack by the federal government for years now, passed the House and now moves on to the Senate.

In a 1997 poll, 57% of Republicans supported marijuana for medicinal purposes.  Is that number on the rise?  There is no recent polling data measuring Republican opinion of decriminalization or medical marijuana and New Hampshire is the only state with RLC legislators that has pending legislation addressing the issue of medical marijuana.  So perhaps it is too soon to tell what the trend among Republicans is, but if New Hampshire is any indication, there has been a shift of opinion on medical marijuana among Republican legislators.

Medical marijuana is currently legal in Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington.

It seems that there is a positive shift in priorities among Republicans.

Perhaps focusing on critical economic issues instead of hot-button social issues will provide Republicans the leverage they need to once again become the party that advocates limited, Constitutional government and protection of individual rights.