(ed. note: I came across this online and asked him to share his story with us)
I am Dana, I am going to refuse to pay a fine for an old pot charge Friday, July 29th.
The public is invited. Here is the Facebook ‘event’ page with the details: https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=225517427489148
Here is a draft of the statement I plan to make:
I would like to point out that I do not drink alcohol or imbibe any dangerous drugs, I do not pillage or plunder, I believe that living your life honourably is one of the most important things a person can do and I practice what I preach. I am an active and contributing member of my community and I have earned the respect and admiration of large numbers of the people in my community – and I hate to admit it as it goes against my ‘outlaw’ image, but I even obey the traffic laws. In spite of all this I now have 4 felony convictions and 3 misdemeanor convictions, all for marijuana; I have spent over 6 years of my life incarcerated in a federal prison and four years on federal probation over marijuana, and Thurston County now wants me to pay a fine of $2,010 for marijuana plus $1,754 in interest on that fine that was accrued as I sat in a federal prison all those years. Since I have been smoking marijuana on a regular basis for over 40 years now and no suffered no any ill-effects of any kind whatsoever that I am aware of, since I consider this state’s marijuana laws to be an unacceptable, unconstitutional, and outrageous infringement upon my personal liberty, since I love smoking marijuana and intend to continue smoking marijuana at any time that I darned well please, and since making someone like me into a criminal over marijuana is insane and stupid; then I am today placing the State of Washington on notice that from this point forward I will not only never again pay the state to prosecute me for marijuana but that I intend to make it as expensive to prosecute me for marijuana as I possibly can – and since I have been in the system for a long time I know how to do that.
I would also like to point out to that the feds had me under their thumb for over 10 years and they did not break me – and as of a few days ago I am no longer under that thumb. And so today I am celebrating and reclaiming my freedom by informing the state that since I will no longer pay your fines and since I no longer fear your jails then — as far as marijuana goes — you no longer have any power over me and that in fact the stick is now in my hand.
As to the matter now before us I have no intention of making any more payments and I am requesting as long a jail sentence as the law allows for my refusal.
