Hartford (WTNH) – The vice president of a group that advocates for the reform of marijuana laws has been arrested for allegedly sending a threatening e-mail to state Sen. Toni Boucher (R-26th District).
Dominic Vita, 28, of Somers, is the VP for Norml CT . Capitol Police say the e-mail to Sen. Boucher was laced with profanities and said to the effect, “I’m getting ready to go postal.” The e-mail also referenced a specific act of violence directed to Sen. Boucher.
Vita was arrested Friday in Enfield and charged with disorderly conduct. He was released on a $1,000 bond and is due in court May 11.
NORMLizers, let’s make this a teachable moment. As marijuana law reform advocates, you have to be ultra-squeaky-clean in following other laws and obeying rules of decorum. Chris Rock has a saying in his stand-up, “The black man’s gotta fly to get to where the white man can walk to.” The idea is that prejudice and racism inherent in our society means a black person has to work twice as hard to get the same results and recognition as a white man.
The same idea applies – quadruple – to being an “out” cannabis consumer. Normal folks can get a speeding ticket, but NORML folks getting a speeding ticket is “reckless potheads behind the wheel!” Normal folks can get angry at someone in public, but NORML folks’ public anger is “unstable activists threaten bystander”. Normal folks can send off bizarre email rants, but NORML folks’ bizarre emails are “psycho dopers want legal pot”. As a NORMLizer, you can’t just be good, you’ve got to be better than.
Don’t take this lightly; if you really want to call yourself a “marijuana activist”, you’ve got to take that responsibility seriously. You’re speaking for thousands of people in your area who can’t or won’t come out of the closet. You’re representing the dreams and needs of so many. Because of this one boneheaded act, marijuana law reform is likely dead for this Connecticut legislative session and probably severely hampered for the next two. How many people in Connecticut will be arrested for marijuana in that time? How many desperate patients will go without medicine or risk black market crime and arrest because of one errant email? How many eager budding Connecticut activists are now turned off of the idea of working with NORML?
We’ve got good people working in NORML CT and we’ll work hard to provide a great chapter in the Nutmeg State.
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We have a Image problem with this issue that spans decades. What we need to do is dispell this image by persitently being professional in EVERY public place and situation. If we are asking for rational treatment, we MUST exibit rational behavor. Otherwise we defeat our selves, and the battle goes longer and support gets smaller due to not wanting to be associated with illrational people. Especially in a Governmental position.
[...] couple years back we told the tale of Dominic Vita in Connecticut, who, on the eve of an important vote on a decriminalization bill, sent a threatening email to a [...]
For many of us, our frustration with the curcumstances and passion for our beliefs, brings us here. But what I feel and know, is that sometimes you have to separate those feeling of frustration and passion and reign them in.
What I think we must remember is that we are in a business and because of that, we have to temper our emotional energy and not let ourself get so emotionally involved that it hurts “the business” of what we are trying to do.
After all, we are trying to bring people to our side and point of view. If we lose our control and offend people, not by our message, but by our actions, it make the fight that much harder……
It was just ‘an expression’ as we used to say in America. The poor son of a gun is one of the only ones to stand up and say, “enough.” I work, I bust my ass, I don’t steal, I don’t even consider robbing, I say my prayers, and I smoke. It helps me laugh at Seinfeld after 47 times, reminding me of watching it with my late father, and we didn’t get along, but we laughed together at that.
Listen. I made the mistake of writing a letter to my rep. the other day. The way I see it, they are legislators, they write the freakin laws, Obama has opened a window, and no one is jumping through.
then I wrote a follow up, apologizing for my impoliteness…oh man, I am so screwed.
You’ll note how we usually say “otherwise law abiding citizens” a lot. By our very existence (if we’re not medical) we’re not “squeaky clean”. Sure, there are some die-hard civil liberties advocates who believe pot should be legal but don’t use it themselves (Penn Jillette, for example), but mostly, those of us in NORML think it’s normal to smoke pot. And we have to get it from somewhere, so we’re either buying it, growing it, or getting it as a gift, so we’re breaking that law.
So long as that NORMLizer is a responsible consumer of pot, we’ve got no problems. We don’t want to see anyone busted for large-scale trafficking or anything, but if you’re just a personal user/grower, we are your lobby.
Sadly, this is a sad event, and we as activist need to be careful in how we approach things. That said, think we have in some ways been too silent as a special interest group. Depending on which sources you believe, 90 Million Americans have tried pot, and somewhere between 25-50 million of us smoke it at least once every six month (or more)with 20 million of us smoking at least once a month. Yet, too often our organized marches draw a few dozen to a few hundred smokers. We cannot grab the National Headlines we need in that fashion.
Furthermore, since many of us have seen the slow almost glacier like forward progress made over 40 or more years, there is a certain level of frustration that has set in. I do not condone violence or threats against any public official. On the other hand, think we need to take digital photographs of every DEA OFFICE IN AMERICA, and the people going in and out and publish it to the web…we as a community are under attack, and it is too often the DEA that is STALKING US, and we need to identify them at every opportunity.
I also think we need more and larger protests, even a National March on DC attended by members of our community in VERY LARGE NUMBERS.
What about us activists that participate in the black market? I think this is the number one reason pot smokers are afraid to speak up. 100% of pot smokers who don’t have a script for medicinal are participating in the black market. If you can be arrested for it, you are an outlaw, and therefore are in some way or another, a black market participant.
This isn’t by choice for most of course, but how could I come out and support NORML if people are blowin up my phone to get a gram? Most are “otherwise law abiding citizens” so even speeding tickets aren’t commonplace, but the laws we break on a daily basis almost makes it impossible to be squeaky clean while showing support for legalization. Smoking pot is still a crime.
He wrote “Im going postal” and they arrested him? I would think its more than that, has to be, I have written, I know they will not be re elected or they will lose their seat next time. Hope they dont come and get me! The man I write the most is Mitch McConnell and I let him have it all the time, but never threaten him or I hope he doesnt take it that way!
totaly agree that we have to keep our nose clean and keep our side civil! i feel bad for him though.
Yeah, hey Russ. I actually just met Dominic back on the global marijuana march day in Hartford. He seemed like a very nice guy, and it is really unfortunate it all had to go down this way. I know he is a veteran and had seen combat on the front lines since 9/11. So he has been in some pretty intense and violent scenarios, and i think he may have become somewhat more prone to have aggressive thoughts like one needs in war to win. But our war is one of peace at all costs, and no violent behavior whatsoever should be tolerated. We have moved past the dark ages people, our message is of peace & love, and reinvigorating that world message from the 60′s. Not by becoming jobless hippies, riding around in vans, and not bathing for weeks; but by transforming peoples beliefs about stoners, from hippies, to average normal everyday folk you see at the supermarket. One nation will become united by a common bond, which all can responsibly, healthfully, and safely enjoy, without having to worry about persecution, Cannabis.
Wow! I have written some fiery letters to officials in the past but making threats, no matter how frustrated we get with the stupidity of our leaders, is always out of line.
Except for the threat of not voting for an official, of course. :)
I am real curious what he wrote and more curious what the Senator did that instigated it. I’m sure it all has to do with recient marijuana votes in CT.
It’s such a shame, too, because there really is a dedicated group of activists there in Connecticut. I also don’t think any serious harm was considered; I know too well how a joke in email can come off the wrong way to someone it isn’t intended for.
Well said.