Most Americans and Texans agree and believe health care is the responsibility of the individual. The use of marijuana has been demonized and made a crime, when in truth, it is a health care story about a safer choice!

Ooooops! Who spilled the beans? scientists and patients all over the world, that's who!

Cannabis medicines were once the “drugs of choice” in the United States. Until they were declared illegal, they had been used in about 30 prescription medicines for a 100 specific medical problems.

Patients all over the world testify to Cannabis' help in treating chronic pain, multiple sclerosis, gastrointestinal (GI) tract disorders, HIV/AIDS and cancer! . Some scientists speculate that cannabinoids play a protective role in the brain, slowing the rate of disease. A study has shown THC is far more effective than available Alzheimer's drugs to treat symptoms and halt the disease's progression.

Since 2006 I have awarded two free portraits yearly, each dedicated to the freedom philosophy or the American dream. I call it the "Rebel with Just Cause Award." It is given to true American patriots; those who stand for freedom against tyranny and injustice. The real visionaries, who laid down America's laws, those who defined what an American patriot would be, were rebels with just cause. It's not just our right it's an American's patriotic duty to rebel against big government corruption.

One of the 2008 Rebel with Just Cause Awards goes to Dr. Ron Paul for the Love Revolution he helped generate that is sweeping America, returning us to our roots of self-government, free of tyranny and big government oppression. Our founders believed the best way to spread the freedom philosophy is by being a shining example.

"Freedom to make bad decisions is inherent in the freedom to make good ones. If we are only free to make "good" decisions, we are not really free." US Congressman Ron Paul notes. Did you know thousands marched in DC for the Love Revolution this month?

The other 2008 portrait is awarded to Steph Sherer, the powerhouse Director of American's for Safe Access who organized protesters against the 2007 DEA raids of state sanctioned medical marijuana dispensaries. "We're patients, not criminals!" They chanted.

US Representative Barney Frank has filed a bipartisan federal bill to legalize "small amounts" of marijuana and make room for serious criminals. Representative Ron Paul is a cosponsor. This Texas straight talker says we are "politicizing pain." Visit Marijuana Policy Projects Legislation page to write your Congress person about "The Personal Use of Marijuana by Responsible Adults Act"- HR 5843.

Write your Congress person from Marijuana Policy Projects Legislation page about “Medical Marijuana Patient Protection Act”- HR 5842 which would allow the medical use of marijuana in states that have chosen to make its use for medical purposes legal with a doctor's recommendation. The debate over medical marijuana or cannabis is really a scandalous controversy over whether this very easy-to-grow herb should be allowed to compete with pharmaceuticals for pennies on the dollar.

Science based education & harm reduction is a better drug policy.

It is a fallacy to believe the evils of the drug war are unintended. Felony
convictions disenfranchise mostly poor and minority Americans.

Tricky Dick Nixon was really good at hiding tyranny under the guise of good intentions, a con used by the servants of tyranny, throughout history. He said on a white house tape that "marijuana was the drug of choice for Mexicans, hippies and black people," making perfectly clear his racism and authoritarian leanings.

The DEA he started could be called the Drug Encouragement Administration. Use of drugs in the last 35 years has increased. Drugs are more potent and available. This Agency (according to the governments own numbers) has had a greater than thirty-fold increase in budget and has 4 times its original number of agents.

The DEA turned 35 this year, a very unhappy birthday with nothing to celebrate. Disband the DEA!

Drug warriors seem blithely unconscious of the societal harm their policies cause. If you research it you will find that there were few overdose deaths before prohibition.

The war on drugs devastates the lives of drug users and their families. It triggers violence in our streets and on our borders. Corruption is rampant, official lawlessness rules as it did during alcohol prohibition.

Gain better control by regulating all drugs like we do pharmaceuticals,
tobacco or alcohol. We tolerate the salesmen of these drug gangs that cause more death annually than all illicit drugs.

Punishing individuals for making a safer health choice today is absolute
madness. Taking children from the homes of parents who made a safer health choice in a medicinal or recreational drug is insane policy.

Taking property from these same, destroyed by government families, is legalized extortion ! States seized $1.52 billion in 2007; Texas alone seized more than $125 million last year. End asset forfeiture!

The only clear winners in the war on drugs are terrorists, cartels and
shameless servants of tyranny, politicians. The big losers are the taxpayers, deluded into believing big government is the appropriate response to nontraditional consensual vices.

Children are a primary concern for drug policy partially because drug abuse and addiction peak around age 21. Some 83 percent of drug abuse is due to alcohol -- 69 percent exclusively alcohol and another 14 percent where other drugs have been added. Much of the rest is prescription drug abuse. Policy does not reflect those basic facts. According to Jerry Epstien, researcher for the Drug Policy Forum of Texas.

If you really care about saving lives, education based on sound medical and unbiased scientific knowledge is the way to go! Fight for that, it is worth fighting for. Get away from enforcement and drug testing. Two kids in Texas lives are possibly ruined by false positives for steroids right now at an outrageous cost to tax payers.

Enforcement did not work for alcohol and prohibition will never work for any drug. Making a product illegal increases violence and corruption for its market. It ruins lives instead of saving them.

Consider alternatives to the present insane policy that ignores the lessons of history. More compassionate caring policy, treating abusers as patients not criminals will mean less suicides, less overdose, less prostitution and less people on skidrow.

Once all voluntary associations were permissible in America, economic and social.

Have you noticed opportunity may knock once, but temptation bangs on your front door forever or how forbidden fruits create many jams? Sex and drugs, for both abstinence is safest but few choose it. When individuals remain in control of their own bodies society benefits.

Save the American dream of self government. Be brave, end the terror. Change our intrusive, big-bully policies, both foreign and domestic. The monetary and environmental costs are staggering and the human suffering unconscionable.

Our Founders were good Christian men led by the holy spirit but money the root of all evil was part of it. They wanted to create the land of abundance. They knew ethics would have to rule for it to work. The Spirit of '76 is the Holy Spirit and our true north.

Get tough on violent crime! Warriors can get their adrenaline rush increasing public safety; chasing killers and other violent predators.

Save the Children, from Prohibition! We want a better drug policy. People of all faiths and goodwill can stand together for a more just, science based and compassionate alternatives to the current senseless policy.

Some politicians are like bad horsemen who are so preoccupied with staying in the saddle that they can't bother about where they're going.

Our flag is a symbol of liberty, justice and freedom! It is a beacon for hope in a troubled world. Don't let its reputation be tarnished by incidents of torture. Recapture the Flag by demanding a government that respects human rights, leadership that rejects all forms of corruption, and elected officials who fiercely challenge anyone who seeks to undermine the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

Repeal prohibition, cut the cartels throats! Immediately cut off the major source of funding for terrorists worldwide! We want drug laws that don't kill our troops by giving money and power to terrorists

It's summertime, take it easy, join the easy revolution! Restore justice in the world, construct science based drug policies about saving and rehabilitating instead of ruining lives. Get tough on violent crime! Warriors can get their adrenaline rush increasing public safety; chasing killers and other violent predators.

The real cause of this huge quagmire of failed policy is the beast, big government, that money hungry beast, Uncle Sam! Ma Freedom tells it like it is! The beauty of it is when we focus on downsizing our government we regain our roots of self-government and secure the blessings of liberty for ourselves and future generations.

The Dixie Chicks for their 2006 documentary called, "Shut Up and Sing" and Joe Frederick for the media blitz created by the banner "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" are recipients of the 2007 Rebel With Just Cause Award. Both of these portrait awards were about freedom of speech.

Cindy Sheehan founding member of the Gold Star Families for Peace & the Camp Casey Peace Institute and Howard Wooldridge of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition were the recipients of the 2006 Rebel with Just Cause Award!

I am libertarian. Are you? Or conservative, or liberal? Here's a quick way to find out if you are not sure. These 10 questions are helpful in making clear and simple our only real political choices.