Civil Asset Forfeiture Revenue and Marijuana Legalization by the Detroit Police Department

By Richard C. Clement

    In light of the recent raids on Medical Marijuana facilities in the City of Detroit this week, we asked Detroit Police Chief James Craig how much money does the Department make from Asset Forfeiture.  The Chief responded with a chart that shows over a 3 year period, the Department made $7.3 million dollars from taking assets under the Civil Forfeiture programs. The breakdown is as follows:

Year	Federal	State	Local	Total
2012	$   451,542.05	$   7,394.00	$2,224,477.40	$2,683,413.45
2013	$   410,168.87	$           -	$1,938,511.05	$2,348,679.92
2014	$   348,461.79	$ 36,254.07	$1,882,748.57	$2,267,464.43
Totals	$1,210,172.71	$ 43,648.07	$6,045,737.02	$7,299,557.80

The figure shows that there needs to be a redirection of assets so that Marijuana based businesses and, the policy on Civil Asset forfeiture needs some serious re-direction of funds toward expenses like retiree pensions and healthcare.  This is a large amount of money to make from taking someone’s money and property for Marijuana possession and, never charging the person for the crime in a court of law.

People on the receiving end of this lose everything seized to the agency who made the initial contact if; the person does not contest the seizure in 10 days. After 10 days, the money or asset(s) that was taken from a home or person during a police raid is kept by the arresting agency and sold for profit. The raid on the facility at Puritan and Hubbell on July 14th, 2015 is a prime example of this type of asset forfeiture abuse by law enforcement.  On Puritan there are 7 churches that are within 3000 feet of the school.  City wide, there are numerous hair shops and churches that are across the street from each other.

This un-even enforcement of the Marijuana Laws creates an incentive for police agencies to conduct raids as a profit center for the Department instead of the protection of the citizens.

The only way this will stop is if you show up to vote and elect people who want to make this type of change.   You can also direct change through a ballot initiative that will take 2000 signatures from registered voters in the City of Detroit.  Or you can force change by signing the legalization petition hosted by www.milegalize.com to fully decriminalize and stop the War on Weed.  The revenue from legal Marijuana sales will make more money than the Water and Sewage system maintained by the Great Lakes Water Authority.

We have more people in new jails with no pot holes in their walls and, at the same time we have horrible roads, declining education opportunities and, retirees that have dwindling pension benefits. Participation in the MI Legalize www.milegalize.com  effort will address these problems.  We are expecting much better out of our elected leadership because, the War on Weed in the City of Detroit and the State of Michigan is a complete failure and, a waste of law enforcement resources. 

Finally if the Detroit Branch and the Michigan State Conference of the NAACP can honor Kid Rock, then they are morally obligated to support decriminalization of Marijuana use because of the impact on the community especially citizens of color. 

Marijuana Policy at Mackinaw? A 2016 Ballot Question To The People

by The Friends of George Cushingberry Jr.

Lansing Mayor Virg Benero

During the Mackinaw Policy Conference, a new effort to allow Michiganders the legal right to use Marijuana without arrest, prosecution, and discrimination was introduced.  The group MI Legalize (www.milegalize.com) is spearheading an effort to place this issue on the ballot in November 2016. This Marijuana legalization effort if adopted by the people will allow municipalities to regulate this industry with 20% of the profits going to the city or township the provisioning center is located in. The current Michigan Medical Marijuana Act will remain intact.

"Free The Weed for the Jobs We Need" -   Richard C. Clement

Michigan residents will have another chance to determine the direction of the management and regulation of the exploding Marijuana Industry. Michigan voters have the opportunity to force the reform of the current system by electing responsible leaders who will do the following:

1. Getting a Picture of the Cardholder on the Medical Marijuana Card
2. Removing all Marijuana Convictions from citizens who are incarcerated in the legal system
3. Use the growing revenue to revitalize blighted properties in Detroit
4. Eliminate the requirement of placing Medical Marijuana in the Trunk of your car
5. Remove Marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act
6. Pot profits for Potholes, School Funding, Retiree Pensions and lowering Co-Pays on Health Insurance with the Affordable Care Act.

Richard Clement and
Mrs. Jodie Emery
Wife of Marc Scott Emery
 A Canadian Citizen abused by
America's war on Weed.

Since the Ronald Regan revolution of the 1980, the prison population has quadrupled to 2.4 million people. Cost per prisoner ranges from $21,000 to $33,000 per year for each person within the US Prison population. 20% of State Prisoners and 51% of Federal prisoners are in jail for Drug Charges like possession of Marijuana. Compared to 4% of the prison population is composed of robbery and 1% for murder, this is a huge financial commitment to keep people locked up. Currently, the State of Michigan spends up to $2 billion dollars a year maintaining their Department of Corrections facilities. On a Federal level, prison costs are expected to rise to 30 percent of the Department of Justice's budget by the year 2020.

Davidson Freeway at Oakland Exit

The ballot proposal by the group MI Legalize will put a major dent and spur a massive redirection of funds used to prosecute people for Marijuana crimes. The breakdown of the revenue that will be generated by this effort will direct 40% of all profits for transportation, 40% to the school aid fund, and 20% to cities and townships where the business is located. By voting in 2016 citizens can elect State of Reps that will introduce legislation to repeal the law that required people to carry Marijuana in the trunk of their car like a weapon.  This one law is responsible for many arrests, and convictions of Michigan Citizens was endorsed by prosecutors and a few mis-guided Michigan State Senators who were “influenced” by Attorney General Bill Schuette and, the Michigan Sherriff’s Association.

Citizens can finally force the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (www.michigan.gov/mmp) to place a picture on the Medical Marijuana card after 6 years of operating the program, calling an end to the legislative buffoonery when it comes to Information Technology. While other states like Arizona allow you to upload a passport like picture, Michigan officials are woefully lacking and intentionally slacking off to sabotage the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act, one of Michigan’s only profit making programs in State Government.

If Marijuana is to become legal then, we want our citizens of all races, religions, spiritual beliefs, political or sexual preference, etc. to have an equal opportunity to participate in this industry.   Based on population as of 2014, Michigan has 80% more citizens at 9 million residents than Colorado has at 5 million residents. Therefore, Michigan will make more money than Colorado from the legalization of Marijuana. Schools, Roads, and Retirees will benefit because a City or County Government can fund pension programs and defray the cost of their healthcare by diverting the 20% of profits into the pension system.

This effort needs 302,400 signatures to be collected by circulators who are gathering signatures from REGISTERED voters.  If you are not registered to vote please do so ASAP.  If you are a felon or know a felon who is NOT inside of a correctional facility, please inform them that they are eligible to vote. This is the non-violent social change that Dr. Martin Luther King was advocating when he was alive and when people got beat up on a bridge to get the right to participate in their government.

For more information  about this legalization effort, please visit the www.milegalize.com website.

For a list of 2016 Presidential Candidates please visit this link: 

https://www.mpp.org/2016-presidential-candidates/

Source:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/08/13/wonkbook-11-facts-about-americas-prison-population/

Money Management with Melody! 2015 Mackinaw Policy Conference

By Richard C. Clement

US Rep Harold Ford and Melody Hobson

One of the Benefits of attending the conference is listening to speakers who have the best interests of the citizens regarding finance. Melody Hobson gave a 30 minute presentation regarding how to instill the benefit of money management to future generations of youth. Through her company Ariel Investments LLC she outlined the progress of .her Company targeting under served communities in Chicago.  Training young students on the value of money and how to manage it is a "No Brain-er" and when given the opportunity to succeed they will. A brief snippet from their website www.arielinvestments.com describes and defines the mission and purpose of Ariel:

Through former Mayor Daley’s New School Initiative Program, Ariel was awarded a corporate sponsorship of a Chicago public school in 1996. Hence, the birth of Ariel Community Academy – a public school located on the south side of Chicago. Currently, Ariel Community Academy (ACA) offers classes from kindergarten through eighth grade serving 518 students and their families. Ninety-eight percent of the student body is African-American and over 85 percent of the students receive subsidized lunches. ACA chose to target the North Kenwood neighborhood precisely because it was one of the most under served communities in Chicago. Today, the neighborhood is more vibrant, and ACA is a center for community and family life. ACA's impact extends well beyond the building itself, creating higher academic standards and achievements through a unique corporate-family-school partnership. In short, the vision remains to create a model community school — where the doors are always open; where teachers, parents and members of the community work in partnership to provide world-class educational opportunities and where financial literacy is not just taught but practiced.

Programs like this can easily be set up in any School with an investment of time, money, and resources. Students as young as 8 years old can be trained to manage small portfolios and investments with the proper support and supervision. With the computing power of these smart phones and tablets, students can manipulate their transactions do well. Councilmember Pro-Tem Cushingberry is actively supporting programs like this in Public and Charter schools. 

Financial literacy is the second most important thing besides learning how to read. When these two are worked properly together, you will have given a child a foundation to keep a roof over their head. When that child grows to be an adult, they will have enough of a base of knowledge that one day, they will be able to manage a pension fund for health care that will be fair to the membership.

Carnival Barking and Paperwork Issues while in Office #DetroitLivesMatter

By Friends of George Cushingberry Jr.

Since taking office, these old laptops
have been removed from all
DFD Units and replaced with
hand held units

Since being a council member, Mr. Cushingberry does not have the time to put into law while serving the citizens of our great city making things happen. An example is: since taking office, the Detroit Fire Departments technology has been massively upgraded with a WORKING mapping system that helps firefighters get to emergencies much faster and accurately. This move saved the department lots of money by redirecting funds from a non-working CODE RED computer system, to a hand held working Google Mapping App for each firehouse.  This app has a future so that the app can fit on every firefighter’s cell phone if needed.

Councilman Cushingberry and colleagues have awarded over $55,000 in grants to the DFD for equipment and spurring a hiring frenzy of new Firefighters, EMTs, and Detroit Police Officers to protect the people. These young men and women help carry on the legacy of the Motor City by protecting it as a good place to work, live and party. As we speak, City of Detroit computer systems are being upgraded from Win 3.1, Win 2000, Win XP,  to the latest MS Windows software and HP hardware to bring the City's technology into the 21 Century.

Councilman Cushingberry and his colleagues are working to get City of Detroit uniformed employees (Police and Fire) the same 2.5 percent adjustment awarded to all non-uniformed employees including the Council by the Compensation Commission in July 2016.  Detroit retirees are encouraged to investigate the use of the Voluntary Employee Benefit Agreement to their advantage. When manipulated properly by the members, retirees will re-gain the losses by re-negotiating deductibles and co-pays using the Affordable Care Act.

Please be reminded that Mr. Cushingberry has more credibility as a suspended lawyer than some journalists on Fox 2 and, the Michigan Chronicle have as employees.  As a lawyer Mr. Cushingberry has processed over 1000 cases in his career.  To our count Elrick has found four of them.  We know he had to get through all of them to find these four anomalies.  Regarding the widow issue with the car, Mr. Cushingberry, Swanson Funeral Home, and another agency were successful in dismissing the lawsuit filed by the widow for $20 million dollars a piece in damages.   On Elrick’s star witness Debra Goodner, she still has not produced a receipt for a retainer fee and, we are not holding our breath waiting.

Currently there are 87 people on the same list that ML Elrick accessed from the State of Michigan website. (click here to read the list of "sinners") The list includes Peter Hokesra for Governor and the late Rev. Michael Murphy.  Since most of them did not win or died, they just quit filing.  Mr. Cushingberry has since filed his report and this list will be amended to show that he had less than $50.00 owed for the 2010 Senate campaign.

While serving as a State Representative, Mr. Cushingberry was accused of the same thing in 2008 by then Attorney General Mike Cox when he was appointed the appropriations chairman of the House of Representatives. This case went to trial and, the councilman was victorious in proving that the charges were nothing but harassment and a backhanded attempt to remove him from the appropriations chairmanship.  In that position, Mr. Cushingberry was responsible for the budget of 21 State Departments and left it balanced when his term was limited.

We also want to remind the Nolan Finleys and the Bankole Thompsons of the world that our young people are carrying cell phones that have more computing power than all of the NASA spacecraft that went to the moon and back in the 60’s. They are very talented and with training can do ANY job that is offered to them. If these companies don’t want to hire them they will get the training elsewhere, come back and do a better job than the company that did not want to hire them in the first place. All we ask is that they use those smartphones for doing their research and homework in the process of getting their education. 

Finally we want to salute the young men and women of the Detroit Public School system who recently won a prize for building solar heating and electrical panels.  We know that this is our future and ticket to prosperity in the City of Detroit and, if you are in a business that uses a lot of electricity, then you may want to consider hiring one or many of them.  That’s if they don’t become entrepreneurs and open their own business.   Some of them may study journalism and learn how to report facts instead of, creating fiction from fact to sustain a theater act.

Community Leaders meet to regulate Medical Marijuana businesses in the City of Detroit

by Richard C. Clement

"600 Million Dollars a year in taxable revenue from Marijuana" - Harry Smith CNBC

Led by Winfred Blackmon and Marcus Cummings, the Metro Detroit Community Action Coalition is attempting to develop an ordinance to reduce the number of Marijuana related business in the City of Detroit. After further review of their proposal, the group’s attempt is to shut them down and/or severely restrict their growth through the use of the Building Safety, Detroit Fire Department Fire Marshals, and other zoning restrictions that have been deemed illegal by the Michigan Supreme Court.

Developing a Marijuana regulation ordinance based on the theory rooted in the ideology of the late Harry Jacob Anslinger (May 20, 1892 – November 14, 1975) is to re-affirm the failed ideology of prohibition with racism. Anslinger was a United States government official who served as the first commissioner of the U.S. Treasury Department's Federal Bureau of Narcotics (FBN). He was a staunch supporter of prohibition and responsible for declaring Marijuana a Schedule I drug like heroin with no medical value. He was an avowed racist that described Marijuana as a drug that makes Negros attack White Women. He along with FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover sincerely believed this until they died. This mindset was carried on by President Nixon and John Ashcroft who authorized the shooting of two activists by the FBI and Michigan State Police at the Rainbow Farms camp in Vandalia Michigan in 2001. (click here for the story of Rainbow Farms)

In 2015, interviews with high ranking Detroit Police Department officials and neighborhood police officers reveal that DPD has not had a police call for trouble at ANY of the identified places of business by this group.  If places are getting raided, it is because they are doing something more than dealing with Medical Marijuana like gambling and vice. Otherwise these places of business in the district are operating within the law by permission.  This addresses the safety of the neighborhoods issue because if the Detroit Police are not having any incidents of trouble, then where is the danger?

The growth of these business are a reflection of a trend toward decriminalization of Marijuana by Federal, State and Local leaders who see the war on Marijuana as a total failure and agree that something has to change. The war on weed has a disparate impact upon our diverse community and, only serves to keep the economy of the for profit correction system in the black. Mayors like Virg Benero of Lansing and Jan Parisi of Hazel Park have come out of the closet to support decriminalization. This is because they are listening to the people and they are saying loudly and clearly that we want these businesses to patronize.

For this group to use the Detroit Zoning Board, Detroit Police, Detroit Fire, and Building Safety Departments to fight a losing proxy war against Marijuana is a sure loser and a waste of tax dollars. The Detroit Fire Department marshal wants safe entry, exit with no capacity overloads and, fire extinguishers in these facilities, just like any other business. Building Safety wants a code compliant building and, the Detroit Police want to keep the peace.  People who use Marijuana are not violent when they only use Marijuana. They get plenty hungry and that could help sales of food in the community.

The last thing the City of Detroit needs is a 1920 style of the Temperance movement who created alcohol prohibition and you see where this got us as a nation. If we can allow Hookah Bars, Cigar Bars, then what is the problem with a “weed bar”?  Given that Detroit retirees need to have their pensions protected and respected with decent health care coverage, the time may be coming so that retirees can have their Medical Marijuana covered to lower their health costs.

Using the rules of the Voluntary Employee Benefit Agreement (VEBA), the members can vote to make this happen with funds from the sale of legal marijuana to help the pension funds for Police, Fire, and General Employees get financially sound.

We cannot go back to the time where we had people like Marc Emery, a citizen of Canada extradited to the United States to serve 5 years of Federal time in Mississippi for the act of selling marijuana seeds. While Colorado makes $2.5 million dollars a month from legal Marijuana sales for schools, we can do better when we use the Cannabis plant for manufacturing products like cars, homes, fuel, fabric, and 20,000 other uses. Most of the corrections system is full of prisoners for small drug crimes.  We hope that before President Obama leaves office, he will issue a complete pardon to immediately remove these prisoners from incarceration.

Finally we hope that the next President continues the policy on a path of saneness to correct this injustice from the grave of Harry Anslinger in 1939.