I hear people talking about how they've won victories against their terrible foes, and it makes me wonder if they really get what winning is about.

Let's take the MMJ issue for instance. Better people than I am have been fighting for a long time for this issue, and continue to keep on fighting, but there seem to be a few people that think we're fighting a war.

They've elevated it to a good versus evil thing and that's just not the way that it is. We're advocating medicinal marijuana and our right and freedom to use it to make our daily lives just a little less painful. We're not fighting against a corrupt establishment, we're fighting for a freedom.

Sure there ARE some LEO's that are just plain mean, but a much greater percentage of those people are just doing their jobs. John Wayne Gacy was a clown; does that mean that all clowns are serial killers?

I build IT systems. That is how I make a living. When a company comes to me and tells me that they want things done a certain way, I don't question whether they're going to use the system for good or evil. That's not my call.

Same thing with MMJ, no matter how much LEO thinks that you need it, it will never be more important than his job. His job isn't to decide if it's wrong, his job is to enforce the laws that intelligent people have made, and he wants to keep his job. For every five "I got pulled over and arrested" I've read, there are two "but I showed him my paperwork and he said 'okay'" That's up a lot from ZERO last year.

Now remember, I'm not six. I don't believe that the world is a fairy tale place where everything is done for the greater good and I know that there are plenty of things done for personal gain, that's not my point.

My point is that energy spent fighting against someone is energy that could probably have been better spent fighting FOR someTHING.

We the people are a powerful force, but not so powerful that we're going to topple the government. David and Goliath is such a compelling fable because it's usually Goliath that wins.

We complain about this person or that person and how bad it is that they aren't sympathetic to our cause, but the question should be a simple, two part test. Part one: Is it possible that this person is just not as well informed as you and could stand on our side, provided with the right evidence, and two, If not, who can we support that will support us. Politicians go where the money is at or, ideally, the idea of freedom. Since we live in reality, we can rule out the second option in most cases. They're going to go where the most money is, be it big business or well organized constituents. They don't care who's footing the bill, they just want to go to the Caymans.

And that's where we have to be careful. Crazy is crazy and when we support someone just because they support MMJ, we're doing we the people a great disservice and we look like spaced out addicts. We have to do our homework or we can't be taken seriously.

When we make positive steps in the direction of our cause, we are gaining a win for the cause, not against the man. The man isn't necessarily against our cause, but for a long time he has been enforcing laws that are.

Things are beginning to change now, the law is finally on our side. Unfortunately we have to help set the precedent with a few accidental martyrs. It sucks, but every cause has it's martyrs. And ye,t that's really not a popular exhibit at the career fair. Things will change though. Slowly, sure, but they will change. we are gaining ground and if we stay organized and focused then we will continue to gain more and more until MMJ is an accepted alternative to traditional drug therapy.