I would like your assistance on a Medical Marijuana issue.

We wish to organize a non-profit to resolve the conflicts
associated with providing marajuana for medial purposes. To this
extent we need to recruit individuals to serve on the Board of
Directors, the Board of Advisors and our Activist Council.

Instead of being yet another political advocacy group we would
take action. We acknowledge that the eventual solution will be
the result of a political consensus for the simple reason that
the best care is provided locally, but our effort to shame the
government into meeting our demands will help the overall issue,
and save a few lives in the interim.

We propose establishing a hospital ship off Galveston, Texas
where the use of medical marijuana and other unlicensed drugs
would be legally permitted. This would involve much more than
merely anchoring a ship offshore, since a normal commercial ship
can be searched and seized.

Day to day operations, fund raising and other issues would be
handled by a paid staff. The personnel we wish to join us can be
from all over the country. Since we would be based in Houston,
local individuals can help the most, but advice and assistance
can come from other Texans as well as from other states.

Why Galveston. Many reasons; we are part of one of the largest
metro areas in the country, we have a major medical complex in
the metro area, the 45 foot water depth at the territorial
limits is ideal for temporary positioning on the seabed, and of
course some of us live here. This does not mean however that we
are restricted to one location. After getting established we
could place other hospital ships in other areas that are not as
attractive for operations.

Our objective is to change political minds, and local "in your
face" examples on TV would be fine for DC. Currently the only
solution is for the wealthy to visit other countries for
treatment or for the patients to act as criminals. But those
solutions are invisible. A ship serving as a sanctuary just
offshore in plain sight of TV cameras, with real patients does a
great job of illustrating the problem with existing laws.

To this end, I would appreciate it if you could forward a copy
of this letter to individuals you know who would be an asset in
the formation and running of the project. If you would like to
directly assist in the project please email me.

Earl Smith
Stoneship Design, Inc
Houston
neptune@wt.net

Project epoH

Objective
The project proposes to build and legally operate a hospital
ship in International Waters to provide a location for treatment
of conditions requiring the medical use of marijuana and other
restricted drugs. In addition the site would provide a location
for conducting drug trials and research that would not otherwise
receive licensing as well as independent academic studies on the
effects of marijuana.

Drug Status
Through the efforts of the US, the UN has classified the
cannabinoids as Class III drugs, having no perceived value. In
spite of this position several major nations have shifted to now
permitting use in medical treatments and even recreational use.
The efforts to legalize medical use in the US met with sizable
majorities in the few states where votes were permitted.
Subsequent court cases have basically voided these changes by
allowing Federal regulators to override local opinions.

At this point the only way to force medical approval would be to
change the mind of the regulators and Congress. Since the issue
does not have a major national following of activists, the only
ways to get the attention of Congress would be massive campaign
donations, to threaten their power, or to embarrass the
government.

The threat to the power can be done by extending the work in the
individual states. Although there would seem to be little
benefit in getting state approval now, it can be easier to get
one state at a time rather than a head on contest in Congress.
In addition to getting state restrictions removed, a motion
should be prepared in which the legislatures petition Congress
to convene a Constitutional Convention to consider drug laws and
medical policy. This is an alternative method of drafting a
constitutional amendment which has never been used. The threat
comes from the fact that Congress must follow the wishes of the
states in convening the Convention, and that there are no limits
to the changes that could be submitted for ratification. This
"throw the bums out" attitude is how we got our present
government after the last Constitutional Convention. To avoid
this obvious threat to federal supremacy, it would be expected
that Congress would simply alter the laws to remove the issue
prior to receiving the requisite petitions. The problem would be
solved prior to the messy task of constitutional change.

A second approach would be to shame the government into enacting
the requisite changes. This could occur by a public relations
campaign pointing out that the laws are harmful to US citizens
and that they can be evaded legally by the rich, powerful or
lucky. With some medical use already legal in Canada and United
Kingdom, it is possible to take a trip across the border for
medical reasons and get some care. Because of the disruption and
distances involved only a few would benefit.

If, however, a local patient could take a trip 12 nautical miles
from Galveston and receive any needed access to marijuana or
other unapproved drugs for cancer treatment, a muck raking TV
journalist would be presented with an ideal story. Pictures,
patients fleeing the US for medical care, and salvation just
across the border. The only thing missing from this replay of
"Uncle Tom's Cabin" would be the hounds and ice; and Homeland
Security can be counted on to contribute its officious
bureaucrats. All within sight of a man standing on the Seawall
in Galveston. Rather than continue to appear the cruel, cold,
heartless individuals that they are, the politicians would pass
legislation showing their concern just before elections.

Freedom From Drug Searches
UN treaties and agreements between nations allow the Coast Guard
and Navy to stop and search ships suspected of smuggling drugs
or even the catch haul excuse "suppressing the African Slave
Trade". If contraband is discovered, the ship can be arrested
and escorted to a US port where the ship is seized and
auctioned, and crew charged.

But like all laws, some individuals are more equal than others.

Generally in relations between nations there are 3 classes of
individuals. The common man is subject to the full force of
local laws, military forces are partially immune depending on
Status of Forces treaties, and foreign government personnel are
treated with Diplomatic Immunity.

Similarly, ships fall into 3 classes. Commercial ships are
subject to the laws of the country whose territorial limits (12
miles) they are within, plus stops and inspections on the High
Seas. Naval vessels are like soldiers, they can enter with
permission or emergency and can be ordered to leave, but are
immune from search and inspections. It is the final class that
we are interested in. A Government Ship (owned or leased) can
not be stopped or searched, it holds the equivalent of a
Diplomatic Passport (see UN Law of the Sea and other treaties).
If requested to leave, it only needs to proceed to International
Waters (12 nautical miles from shore) where it can anchor with
impunity. (Many years ago I had to play games with the Soviet
duty "trawler" that sat outside Charleston to monitor our subs,
with occasional side trips to Cape Canaveral to watch the
rockets. All perfectly legal beyond the 3 mile limit which was
the then territorial boundary.)

Note that of the many nations in the world, there are probably a
few that would be happy to assist in a project that would cause
shame and embarrassment to the US government, especially if they
achieve a PR benefit from compassion for the sick. These often
would be Leftist states which have survived CIA sponsored
assassination plots and coup attempts.

What we would propose is that we build and equip a hospital
ship, and then lease it to the government of a favorable country
to be used as a training hospital and research facility. The
probable quid pro quo would be that we operate it and fund the
expenses and provide medical and nursing training for their
nationals. The ship would then anchor (actually we would plan
on resting on the sea bed for stability - the water is only 45
feet deep at the 12 mile limit) off the coast of Galveston. With
success, a subsequent ship could be set up off the Maryland
coast to be in the local news area for Federal officials and
serve the East Coast patients. The probable medical plan would
be for the patients to reside in local apartments and stay on
board only during treatments that would require access to the
otherwise unauthorized drugs. Supervision would remain with
their existing physicians who would be admitted to practice
aboard the hospital ship, now being freed of the US drug
restrictions on acceptable protocols.

Designs
Stoneship Design is the US representative of a Consortium of
architects, engineers and contractors working closely with the
Government of Jamaica which is interested in establishing a
shipbuilding industry in Jamaica. Lacking the extreme steel
plate infrastructure used in most ships, we would utilize the
resources and technologies available. The Consortium would
specialize in concrete and steel ships that could be easily
built in most countries. The drawback is that the ships, though
cheaper and more durable, are not competitive in racing around
the seas. They need to stay put or only sail at slow speed,
something that these "ships" will normally do.

The ship would be a deep draft watertight barge onto which is
built a medium rise concrete and steel building such as found in
any city. Although the barge can float on the sea, our
preferences for the design would be to take advantage of the
shallow water in the area under consideration and intentionally
ground the ship by taking on additional ballast water. This
would remove any question of seasick patients. The ship would be
capable of withstanding hurricane winds, and the 20 ft storm
surge from a Cat5 hurricane can be offset by taking on more
ballast water to keep grounded in a fixed location.

Depending on the amount of funding achievable and degree of risk
to be assumed there are a number of potential designs possible.
Additional costs are involved in providing hospital equipment
which would vary depending on degree of specialization and
operating expenses.

A small cruise ship class vessel that floats in deep water or
can ground near shore can be in the range of $25 million. This
would provide about 5 hospital floors with dimensions of 300x100
ft. Rough design characteristics would be 45 foot draft, 45
foot splash zone, and 5 decks above the main deck for hospital
use. Length overall would be 400 feet.

A larger (and better) design would be a similar ship with
dimensions of 150x600 feet for the 5 hospital decks with an
overall length of about 900 feet. Cost could be around $75
million plus medical facilities.

History
In 1958 a group of US citizens formed Project Hope and leased
the USS Consolation (AH-15)(a WW2 navy hospital ship) renaming
her the Hope, and sent her to countries ravaged by destructive
wars and economic chaos created by their politicians to treat
patients and teach local doctors new medical techniques and the
advantages of modern prescription medicines.

Nearly fifty years later the rest of the world has the
opportunity to return the favor and show that even old simple
medicines and basic compassion are needed to protect people from
ravenous drug companies, and government bureaucrats and
politicians.

Action
If you feel that you can contribute to the success of the
project, I would appreciate it if you would drop me an email.
Local meetings, telephone conference calls and minutes of
meetings forwarded to non attendees would build a consensus of
the goals for the project and the facilities needed.

Once the BoD has been assembled, we would file for a charter and
get a letter of Legal Opinion that would confirm the legality of
the immunity from search.

Once paperwork is in place we would establish the designs needed
for the role recomended by our Advisors and begin the
recruitment of volunteers for fund raising.

Earl Smith
Stoneship Design, Inc
neptune@wt.net