ALEC and why should we care...

In the 40 plus years of the war on cannabis one question jumps out at you, especially those who have studied the subject extensively, and that is why? Why is this plant still illegal and not only that it's very existence is called into question. As the years go by and more and more information is coming out it's evident that something or someone is holding back legislation.

Ever hear of an organization called ALEC? I start doing some investigating. It seems this organization has a hand in just about every bill on Capital hill.

The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) boasts ;During the 1999-2000 legislative cycle, ALEC legislators introduced more than 3100 pieces of legislation based on our models, and more than 450 of these were enacted. . . . In the legislative Sessions of 2000, there were more than 2150 introductions promoting ALEC Policy.
So why haven't we ever heard of this group?

Because corporate America doesn't want us to know. Close scrutiny reveals that ALEC is little more than a screen for hundreds of big corporations and trade associations to advance their legislative agendas in state capitals from coast to coast.

http://www.alecwatch.org/

Now my research took me here:

2.) Private Prisons Corporations: Private prison corporations make millions by incarcerating people who have been imprisoned for drug crimes, including marijuana. As Republic Report’s Matt Stoller noted last year, Corrections Corporation of America, one of the largest for-profit prison companies, revealed in a regulatory filing that continuing the drug war is part in parcel to their business strategy. Prison companies have spent millions bankrolling pro-drug war politicians and have used secretive front groups, like the American Legislative Exchange Council, to pass harsh sentencing requirements for drug crimes.

http://www.alternet.org/newsandviews/article/907001/the_top_five_special_interest_groups_lobbying_to_keep_marijuana_illegal/

So then I do some checking around to see who actually is behind this hidden organization and who is at the top of the list but none other than the Koch brother:

The Koch Brothers, big tobacco, insurance companies, and the drug industry: all behind the shadowy corporate front group known as the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). On the surface, ALEC is mostly comprised of thousands of state legislators, each paying a nominal fee to attend ALEC retreats and receive model legislation. In reality, corporations pay ALEC a king’s ransom to access legislators to distribute radical legislation that puts corporate interests over American workers and consumers.

 http://www.justice.org/cps/rde/xchg/justice/hs.xsl/15044.htm


But wait a minute David Koch comes out and says,

“I have friends who smoke pot... It's ridiculous to treat them as criminals.”

http://www.marijuanamajority.com/?id=89


So lets talk about this. On the one hand this man is the lead contributor to a group called ALEC who is working with for profit prisons to keep them profitable and on the other hand saying we need to change the laws that do just that? I would really like to to know whats going on and I will be investigating further you can be sure.

Next up, the Cancer Industry: