Contact/correspondence/publicity on prisoners of the War on Civil Liberties
One other positive project of this site could be documenting and also offering outlets for prisoners of the war on civil liberties. Don Meinshausen, a long-time libertarian activist currently in federal prison for dealing psychedelics is somebody who could use the QA platform. Here's some background on him, his case and writings. along with I think current prison address.
[The letter below was recently presented to a judge whose choices were restricted by Drug War sentencing rules. As a result, Don will begin a 42 month sentence in June 2005. cl., ed.]
An Open Letter to My Sentencing Judge
By Don Meinshausen
First of all I would like to forgive all those who took part in my investigation, arrest, confinement, prosecution and sentencing. Healing and communication does not begin until this happens.
I was planning on retiring in a year . I was buying things from people half my age and there was no way that I could keep up with all night dance parties. One can prolong one's youth only so long. It was time for a change.
Another part of my changeover is going to a vegetarian diet, catching up on my reading and finally starting my writing career. Many of my friends and clients were writers. They all encouraged me to live an interesting life which my happened to fit in with my career. So in the past two years I wrote my autobiography and had it published in Liberty magazine, which has had such distinguished contributors as Milton Friedman and his son David who is a law professor. I am a regular columnist on www.libertyforall.net and a newsletter for the Unitarian Church. I have also written for
http://www.reason.com which once interviewed Reagan, Rational Review, strike the root, individualism and rhetoric. Very little of my writing is on the drug war. I have film reviews, essays on art, spirituality, the new beginnings of freedom in Vietnam, fundraising and humor and funeral practices. I hope to have access to the internet while being confined so that I can make a career out of writing.
The writers who I have known come from all parts of the political spectrum and many are known for essays as well as fiction. Spaulding Gray, who the New York Times called the leading monologist of our day and a star in 60 films in its front page obituary was a proud psychedelic enthusiast and former customer. D Keith Mano, a regular columnist for National Review for 20 years and successful novelist and screenplay writer wrote a letter on my behalf and called my autobiography brilliant. Karl Hess who mentioned me as a friend in his autobiography also supported legalization. He was a speech writer for Nixon and Ford and wrote the 1960 GOP platform. He was also Goldwater's chief speechwriter and personal friend. I have also smoked pot with three people who later became speechwriters for Reagan. One is now Congressman Rohrabacher and has introduced legislation to allow for medical marijuana.
The most prestigious conservative political action conference is CPAC. This year vice president Cheney and 5 US senators spoke there. There was also a scheduled debate on legalization of drugs. The opposition to legalization conceded that drugs should be decriminalized. William F Buckley, Milton Friedman and many others who have written for National Review advocate legalization.
In regards to my offense regarding MDMA I can point to several scientific studies done at universities showing successful treatment for people with terminal cancer in helping them deal with their oncoming demise. There are studies showing good results in dealing with post traumatic stress syndrome. On the other hand studies showing brain damage done by MDMA conducted by Dr Ricaute were recanted by him. While that study was a basis for the current legislation there has been no notice by the courts or Congress. There is also a quote from a Jan 2005 article in the New York Times that of the 19000 drug deaths recorded in NYC only 2 can be attributed to MDMA. I am glad that after many years that the government is finally allowing studies on MDMA. Perhaps this is due to MDMA's discoverer Dr. Alexander Shulgin who has had a close relationship and presided over the marriage of Dr. Segar who was head of the DEA laboratories in the West.
Many of the facts presented here were shown in a documentary shown on ABC TV called "Ecstasy Rising". There have been similar stories in other media. The advocates of decriminalization include professors and doctors of medicine, law, economics, sociology, theology as well as judges law enforcement and elected officials.
I am not arguing for a policy of no controls, not even for relatively benign drugs like hemp and psychedelics. Penalties for drug use and sale should be based on the average potential harm and should include damage done by legal drugs as well. It is interesting to note that the founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, Bill W. used LSD and found it worthwhile in treatment for alcoholism. He notes this in his autobiography, "Pass It On".
Other noteworthy acidheads of the 20th century were Jack Nicholson who has won 3 Academy Awards, Cary Grant, who wanted to star in a film about the benefits of LSD, Henry Luce, founder of Time, Life and Fortune and his wife Clare Booth Luce, who was a congresswoman and filmmaker.
When the government exaggerates or gives misleading information on drugs it destroys its credibility. The same is true for punishments that are out of proportion. I saw this happen in the 60's when the government painted marijuana as being bad as cocaine and heroin. It also helps to popularize drugs by banning them as a symbol of rebellion and forbidden fruit like books were in olden times that were banned in Boston.
Nevertheless MDMA is being more accepted in the culture. "Six Feet Under" on HBO is regarded as one of the best shows ever on television if you look at the awards and accolades given. There have been two episodes when showing two separate people taking MDMA accidentally and receiving trancendant, informative and funny experiences. No amount of anti-drug advertising can counteract this. The only way to lure people from this is to give a better experience through another drug electronically through brain machines.
The pattern of acceptance of pot and psychedelics is like the path that minorities, women and gays have traveled to get acceptance. Open-minded and cutting edge people especially in culture, academia and spirituality lead the way. Then tolerance garners enthusiasm among college students, bohemians and the legal profession. From there to the media and to grass roots organizing and resolutions by localities and professional groups and leading figures of the day, resulting in legal acceptance.
The same pattern happened in ending Prohibition. The tragedy there was the ramping up of penalties in a last ditch attempt to forestall the inevitable. This is happening in my case as well. In 1987 I did 6 months for 2300 hits of LSD. I now face 46-60 months for up to 3000 hits of MDMA. My legal expenses also increased exponentially. Experts will tell you that MDMA is less harmful and profound than LSD.
There is a difference in the civil rights movements and the ending of Prohibition. Alcohol legislation was handled on a state by state and eventually on a locality basis so that there are "dry" counties to this day. Alcohol treatment is largely privately handled as well. AA has wisely decided not to accept money from the government or even from foundations and is run largely by people in recovery. The alcohol industry and bartenders alike have adopted a policy of not encouraging bad behavior. Alcoholism and public, obnoxious drunkenness has declined because of this. Other drugs, both good and bad have had their role in diversion from alcoholism.
Psychedelic and pot legalization is making progress using the civil rights model. There are more and more states allowing for medical marijuana and there are more social acceptance. As a libertarian I do not like the idea of discrimination laws, affirmative action or subsidies to groups that has followed from this path. I prefer the conservative model of allowing localities to decide their own policies for enforcement and tolerance.
Conservatives agree with libertarians that recognizing and dealing with abuse is something that is best done by families, spiritual and community groups or as a medical problem. Liberals agree that his is better than the expense of loss of civil liberties and the emerging prison industrial complex. We should also realize that many people due to loss of manufacturing and agricultural careers need work that is more fulfilling than working in prisons.
There is also a growing social isolation of police and prosecutors from the community. Many are not invited to socialize with families and neighbors because of the obligation to report any infraction of the law. In my otherwise law abiding family, children were allowed to drink wine on special occasions as a way to encourage a proper enculturation of alcohol into their lifestyle. This is forbidden by law.
One way of dealing with youth coming to grips with alcohol is to have drinking permit. After all we ask teens to get a permit and then license for driving. In Germany a youth can drink beer or wine at 16 and drink spirits at 18. It is good that there are classes already that deal with recognizing incipient alcoholism among cohorts, etc. What I would also suggest is that students while being videotaped on a driving test machine take progressively more alcohol so that they can see and review their changes in behavior and reaction time. Licenses can be given in response to good behavior such as good grades, community service or joining the military. The same can be done for other drugs.
The psychedelic community has performed better than any other drug community including alcohol and tobacco. I know of many cases where people went on to obtain advanced degrees and written books because of their psychedelic experiences. There are over 100 books like this and many scientific papers and studies. There is a website that contains over 20,000 pages of information where everyone can go and get questions answered anonymously by a doctor. The website is http://www.erowid.com and the webhosts have spoken at NIDA conferences and were commended there for their service.
I am saddened that so little regard and so much hostility is given by Congress and those administering the drug laws to these efforts to achieve harm reduction. Approval of studies are held back by years due to legal roadblocks. Even open legislative hearings on the safety of MDMA were sidestepped. Perhaps this is a result of the 60's when these drugs became symbol of a culture that was in protest against war, racism and violation of civil liberties.
It doesn't have to be this way. We are working with the drug treatment community and reasonable law enforcement people already in handling large events such as rock concerts for drug problems. We are looking for open, confidential even anonymous dialog with the legal community and other interested groups to help deal with the problems and opportunities of a more free society.
I hope that this can be a new beginning. I hope also that the judge and whatever institution that I am sent to will allow me to help in counseling, teaching and writing; allow me access to the internet and nutritional supplements to deal with my diabetes, allergies, asthma and arthritis. I intend for this to be published and invite the judge, prosecutor, the law enforcement community and other interested individuals to comment on this when published to begin the dialog of healing and liberty.
To respond, PLEASE write to Don Meinshausen
Inmate #08996-050
FCI Fort Dix
Ft Dix, NJ 08640
He is eager for correspondents.
Please send articles about current events of interest, especially from a libertarian perspective.
Also, if you would like to help him and transcribe and email out some of his writings to various libertarian lists, do write him!! He'd appreciate it.
If you want to send him some money for personal toiletries etc., since he makes so little at his job, ask him the best way to do that. I know they recently changed the procedure but have not been able to find out how though it should be somewhere on http://bop.gov (Bureau of Prisons site)
Also if your mail ever comes back to you because they say they have moved him, there is an Inmate Locater on http://bop.gov
UPDATE:
March 4, 2007. Halfway through his term, Don just called this editor. Prison is boring and lonely, and he would REALLY appreciate your correspondence. He has an original mind that crosses disciplines like a native New York J-walker late for a job interview.
Don is mentioned in the new book Radicals for Capitalism, by Brian Doherty. (cl, ed.)
For more from Don, see his page: FreeDonNow
http://www.paganinstitute.org/freedonnow.html
[The opinions expressed in Pagan Institute Report are the author's own,
and should not be construed as those of the editor or The Pagan Institute, Inc. cl, ed.]
[The letter below was recently presented to a judge whose choices were restricted by Drug War sentencing rules. As a result, Don will begin a 42 month sentence in June 2005. cl., ed.]
An Open Letter to My Sentencing Judge
By Don Meinshausen
First of all I would like to forgive all those who took part in my investigation, arrest, confinement, prosecution and sentencing. Healing and communication does not begin until this happens.
I was planning on retiring in a year . I was buying things from people half my age and there was no way that I could keep up with all night dance parties. One can prolong one's youth only so long. It was time for a change.
Another part of my changeover is going to a vegetarian diet, catching up on my reading and finally starting my writing career. Many of my friends and clients were writers. They all encouraged me to live an interesting life which my happened to fit in with my career. So in the past two years I wrote my autobiography and had it published in Liberty magazine, which has had such distinguished contributors as Milton Friedman and his son David who is a law professor. I am a regular columnist on www.libertyforall.net and a newsletter for the Unitarian Church. I have also written for
http://www.reason.com which once interviewed Reagan, Rational Review, strike the root, individualism and rhetoric. Very little of my writing is on the drug war. I have film reviews, essays on art, spirituality, the new beginnings of freedom in Vietnam, fundraising and humor and funeral practices. I hope to have access to the internet while being confined so that I can make a career out of writing.
The writers who I have known come from all parts of the political spectrum and many are known for essays as well as fiction. Spaulding Gray, who the New York Times called the leading monologist of our day and a star in 60 films in its front page obituary was a proud psychedelic enthusiast and former customer. D Keith Mano, a regular columnist for National Review for 20 years and successful novelist and screenplay writer wrote a letter on my behalf and called my autobiography brilliant. Karl Hess who mentioned me as a friend in his autobiography also supported legalization. He was a speech writer for Nixon and Ford and wrote the 1960 GOP platform. He was also Goldwater's chief speechwriter and personal friend. I have also smoked pot with three people who later became speechwriters for Reagan. One is now Congressman Rohrabacher and has introduced legislation to allow for medical marijuana.
The most prestigious conservative political action conference is CPAC. This year vice president Cheney and 5 US senators spoke there. There was also a scheduled debate on legalization of drugs. The opposition to legalization conceded that drugs should be decriminalized. William F Buckley, Milton Friedman and many others who have written for National Review advocate legalization.
In regards to my offense regarding MDMA I can point to several scientific studies done at universities showing successful treatment for people with terminal cancer in helping them deal with their oncoming demise. There are studies showing good results in dealing with post traumatic stress syndrome. On the other hand studies showing brain damage done by MDMA conducted by Dr Ricaute were recanted by him. While that study was a basis for the current legislation there has been no notice by the courts or Congress. There is also a quote from a Jan 2005 article in the New York Times that of the 19000 drug deaths recorded in NYC only 2 can be attributed to MDMA. I am glad that after many years that the government is finally allowing studies on MDMA. Perhaps this is due to MDMA's discoverer Dr. Alexander Shulgin who has had a close relationship and presided over the marriage of Dr. Segar who was head of the DEA laboratories in the West.
Many of the facts presented here were shown in a documentary shown on ABC TV called "Ecstasy Rising". There have been similar stories in other media. The advocates of decriminalization include professors and doctors of medicine, law, economics, sociology, theology as well as judges law enforcement and elected officials.
I am not arguing for a policy of no controls, not even for relatively benign drugs like hemp and psychedelics. Penalties for drug use and sale should be based on the average potential harm and should include damage done by legal drugs as well. It is interesting to note that the founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, Bill W. used LSD and found it worthwhile in treatment for alcoholism. He notes this in his autobiography, "Pass It On".
Other noteworthy acidheads of the 20th century were Jack Nicholson who has won 3 Academy Awards, Cary Grant, who wanted to star in a film about the benefits of LSD, Henry Luce, founder of Time, Life and Fortune and his wife Clare Booth Luce, who was a congresswoman and filmmaker.
When the government exaggerates or gives misleading information on drugs it destroys its credibility. The same is true for punishments that are out of proportion. I saw this happen in the 60's when the government painted marijuana as being bad as cocaine and heroin. It also helps to popularize drugs by banning them as a symbol of rebellion and forbidden fruit like books were in olden times that were banned in Boston.
Nevertheless MDMA is being more accepted in the culture. "Six Feet Under" on HBO is regarded as one of the best shows ever on television if you look at the awards and accolades given. There have been two episodes when showing two separate people taking MDMA accidentally and receiving trancendant, informative and funny experiences. No amount of anti-drug advertising can counteract this. The only way to lure people from this is to give a better experience through another drug electronically through brain machines.
The pattern of acceptance of pot and psychedelics is like the path that minorities, women and gays have traveled to get acceptance. Open-minded and cutting edge people especially in culture, academia and spirituality lead the way. Then tolerance garners enthusiasm among college students, bohemians and the legal profession. From there to the media and to grass roots organizing and resolutions by localities and professional groups and leading figures of the day, resulting in legal acceptance.
The same pattern happened in ending Prohibition. The tragedy there was the ramping up of penalties in a last ditch attempt to forestall the inevitable. This is happening in my case as well. In 1987 I did 6 months for 2300 hits of LSD. I now face 46-60 months for up to 3000 hits of MDMA. My legal expenses also increased exponentially. Experts will tell you that MDMA is less harmful and profound than LSD.
There is a difference in the civil rights movements and the ending of Prohibition. Alcohol legislation was handled on a state by state and eventually on a locality basis so that there are "dry" counties to this day. Alcohol treatment is largely privately handled as well. AA has wisely decided not to accept money from the government or even from foundations and is run largely by people in recovery. The alcohol industry and bartenders alike have adopted a policy of not encouraging bad behavior. Alcoholism and public, obnoxious drunkenness has declined because of this. Other drugs, both good and bad have had their role in diversion from alcoholism.
Psychedelic and pot legalization is making progress using the civil rights model. There are more and more states allowing for medical marijuana and there are more social acceptance. As a libertarian I do not like the idea of discrimination laws, affirmative action or subsidies to groups that has followed from this path. I prefer the conservative model of allowing localities to decide their own policies for enforcement and tolerance.
Conservatives agree with libertarians that recognizing and dealing with abuse is something that is best done by families, spiritual and community groups or as a medical problem. Liberals agree that his is better than the expense of loss of civil liberties and the emerging prison industrial complex. We should also realize that many people due to loss of manufacturing and agricultural careers need work that is more fulfilling than working in prisons.
There is also a growing social isolation of police and prosecutors from the community. Many are not invited to socialize with families and neighbors because of the obligation to report any infraction of the law. In my otherwise law abiding family, children were allowed to drink wine on special occasions as a way to encourage a proper enculturation of alcohol into their lifestyle. This is forbidden by law.
One way of dealing with youth coming to grips with alcohol is to have drinking permit. After all we ask teens to get a permit and then license for driving. In Germany a youth can drink beer or wine at 16 and drink spirits at 18. It is good that there are classes already that deal with recognizing incipient alcoholism among cohorts, etc. What I would also suggest is that students while being videotaped on a driving test machine take progressively more alcohol so that they can see and review their changes in behavior and reaction time. Licenses can be given in response to good behavior such as good grades, community service or joining the military. The same can be done for other drugs.
The psychedelic community has performed better than any other drug community including alcohol and tobacco. I know of many cases where people went on to obtain advanced degrees and written books because of their psychedelic experiences. There are over 100 books like this and many scientific papers and studies. There is a website that contains over 20,000 pages of information where everyone can go and get questions answered anonymously by a doctor. The website is http://www.erowid.com and the webhosts have spoken at NIDA conferences and were commended there for their service.
I am saddened that so little regard and so much hostility is given by Congress and those administering the drug laws to these efforts to achieve harm reduction. Approval of studies are held back by years due to legal roadblocks. Even open legislative hearings on the safety of MDMA were sidestepped. Perhaps this is a result of the 60's when these drugs became symbol of a culture that was in protest against war, racism and violation of civil liberties.
It doesn't have to be this way. We are working with the drug treatment community and reasonable law enforcement people already in handling large events such as rock concerts for drug problems. We are looking for open, confidential even anonymous dialog with the legal community and other interested groups to help deal with the problems and opportunities of a more free society.
I hope that this can be a new beginning. I hope also that the judge and whatever institution that I am sent to will allow me to help in counseling, teaching and writing; allow me access to the internet and nutritional supplements to deal with my diabetes, allergies, asthma and arthritis. I intend for this to be published and invite the judge, prosecutor, the law enforcement community and other interested individuals to comment on this when published to begin the dialog of healing and liberty.
To respond, PLEASE write to Don Meinshausen
Inmate #08996-050
FCI Fort Dix
Ft Dix, NJ 08640
He is eager for correspondents.
Please send articles about current events of interest, especially from a libertarian perspective.
Also, if you would like to help him and transcribe and email out some of his writings to various libertarian lists, do write him!! He'd appreciate it.
If you want to send him some money for personal toiletries etc., since he makes so little at his job, ask him the best way to do that. I know they recently changed the procedure but have not been able to find out how though it should be somewhere on http://bop.gov (Bureau of Prisons site)
Also if your mail ever comes back to you because they say they have moved him, there is an Inmate Locater on http://bop.gov
UPDATE:
March 4, 2007. Halfway through his term, Don just called this editor. Prison is boring and lonely, and he would REALLY appreciate your correspondence. He has an original mind that crosses disciplines like a native New York J-walker late for a job interview.
Don is mentioned in the new book Radicals for Capitalism, by Brian Doherty. (cl, ed.)
For more from Don, see his page: FreeDonNow
http://www.paganinstitute.org/freedonnow.html
[The opinions expressed in Pagan Institute Report are the author's own,
and should not be construed as those of the editor or The Pagan Institute, Inc. cl, ed.]
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