Drug Sentence; it's who you know.

dukeuch · #1 12-13-2006, 12:18 PM

oh, to have well placed family.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/12/13/ch....ap/index.html

Spence · #2 12-13-2006, 12:20 PM

I don't know what the average sentence is for buying 400 pounds of pot with intent to distribute, but 18 months does seem rather light. [Note: The previous sentence should not be seen as an endorsement of our government's 'war on drugs' policy.]

shally · #3 12-13-2006, 12:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spence

I don't know what the average sentence is for buying 400 pounds of pot with intent to distribute, but 18 months does seem rather light. [Note: The previous sentence should not be seen as an endorsement of our government's 'war on drugs' policy.]

time to declare the "war on drugs" a victory and bring the troops home..
a ridiculous exercise in social futility

dukeuch · #4 12-13-2006, 12:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spence

I don't know what the average sentence is for buying 400 pounds of pot with intent to distribute, but 18 months does seem rather light. [Note: The previous sentence should not be seen as an endorsement of our government's 'war on drugs' policy.]

I'm basing my observation on the sentence handed to the other guy, who also pleaded guilty, and got 37 months.

Heck, I think they should be given the pot back and taxed on their profits! (That's a joke, everyone, by a person who thinks pot should be decriminalized).

shally · #5 12-13-2006, 01:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dukeuch

I'm basing my observation on the sentence handed to the other guy, who also pleaded guilty, and got 37 months.

Heck, I think they should be given the pot back and taxed on their profits! (That's a joke, everyone, by a person who thinks pot should be decriminalized).

possession of amounts of pot obviously for personal use should be decriminalized-- totally.. only possession with intent to distribute should remain a felony

redskin_rich · #6 12-13-2006, 01:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shally

possession of amounts of pot obviously for personal use should be decriminalized-- totally.. only possession with intent to distribute should remain a felony

Agreed. I have no problem if somebody wants to keep an ounce of pot in their house for personal use but I don't want them selling it to my kids.

Ibleedburgundy · #7 12-13-2006, 01:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shally

time to declare the "war on drugs" a victory and bring the troops home..
a ridiculous exercise in social futility

How libertarian of you, and I would agree to an extent, but some drugs turn good people into thieves or worse.

Keino · #8 12-13-2006, 01:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by redskin_rich

Agreed. I have no problem if somebody wants to keep an ounce of pot in their house for personal use but I don't want them selling it to my kids.

Well then tell your kids not to buy it.

IMO Pot and every other drug should be legalized and regulated. It seems to me that there are certain beneficiaries of the current policy (Failed Policy) that seem unwilling to give up those benefits.

Empty the prisons of all non-violent drug offenders and legalize the stuff and remove the violence over real estate from the equation.

shally · #9 12-13-2006, 01:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ibleedburgandy

How libertarian of you, and I would agree to an extent, but some drugs turn good people into thieves or worse.

i do not think that pot has turned anyone into anything except a slacker. tell me if you know of any instance of a person using just pot and then going out and murdering their entire family, the way we see all the time with alcohol ? it just doesn't happen because pot stifles initiative and ambition..

i am not advocating the use of drugs.. including pot.. but i think it is insane to put males into prison for possession and then force their families on welfare
in the interest of some social betterment.. society is clearly not better off for this policy.. drug use is not down.. criminal behavior including violent felonies continue among the "businessmen" responsible for distribution.. the policy has simply failed.. it is time to look at another way.

tax it, regulate it, the same way we treat alcohol.. take the profit motive out of it. take the criminal behavior out of it

dj_stouty · #10 12-13-2006, 01:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Keino

IMO Pot and every other drug should be legalized and regulated..

What good would it do to legalize Crack, Meth, LSD and Heroine?

redskin_rich · #11 12-13-2006, 01:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Keino

Well then tell your kids not to buy it.

IMO Pot and every other drug should be legalized and regulated. It seems to me that there are certain beneficiaries of the current policy (Failed Policy) that seem unwilling to give up those benefits.

Empty the prisons of all non-violent drug offenders and legalize the stuff and remove the violence over real estate from the equation.

That's the point, legalize it and regulate it and I don't have to worry about my kids buying it. When I was in high school, it was easier to buy illegal drugs than it was to get beer.

Spence · #12 12-13-2006, 01:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ibleedburgandy

How libertarian of you, and I would agree to an extent, but some drugs turn good people into thieves or worse.

Addiction does that. Same thing can happen to a drunk or someone hooked on legal prescription drugs.

shally · #13 12-13-2006, 01:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Keino

Well then tell your kids not to buy it.

IMO Pot and every other drug should be legalized and regulated. It seems to me that there are certain beneficiaries of the current policy (Failed Policy) that seem unwilling to give up those benefits.

Empty the prisons of all non-violent drug offenders and legalize the stuff and remove the violence over real estate from the equation.

amen... too bad the government does not believe in common sense

unfortunately even taking the racial overtones out of the equation, there is a tremendous growth industry going on with the building of prisons, correctional officers, law enforcement personnel, even an entire sub cabinet level agency
that needs an excuse for it's existence.. so i do not see any short term change.. it is going to take a national level politician with tremendous courage to make this a centerpiece of social policy to get things changed.

shally · #14 12-13-2006, 01:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spence

Addiction does that. Same thing can happen to a drunk or someone hooked on legal prescription drugs.

the solution for addiction, if there is one, is not to criminalize the behavior needed to acquire it.. that is one of the causes of the incentive to distribute it.. sell it to support your own habit.. make that not needed and nobody has an incentive to hook more people.
take the profit out of it..

Spence · #15 12-13-2006, 01:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dj_stouty

What good would it do to legalize Crack, Meth, LSD and Heroine?

Well, you'd save money spent on interdiction and policing. You'd save money on incarcerating millions of people for for years. The addicts we're putting in prison for non-violent drug offenses are coming out of prison worse than when they went in. You could also tax it and use the revenue to fund anti-drug education and rehabilitation. It's a risky policy, I grant you, but what we're doing now doesn't seem to be working so well and we've been doing it for decades. My view: If what you've been doing for decades does not work, do something else.

By the way, all this comes from a person who doesn't drink, doesn't smoke, and has never touched an illegal drug in his life. Not that that makes my opinions more or less valid, just that I don't want anyone to think I'm for drug legalization so I can sit in my basement and smoke joints and eat cheetos all day.