35 Year Sentence for 4oz of Pot: Reasonable?

Well if that does not make you think of the governments priorities I don't know what else would.

My niece was molested and raped by her stepfather for over three years. She was underage and has cerebral palsy.

His sentence? 7 years.

It is this kind of thing that makes me ashamed of our idiotic government. I mean really. How would one of our public officials sale that sort of reasoning to the public?

pot is illegal, therefor users should be punished to the fullest extent of the law. i have known people using this stuff since junior high, and it really does just tear apart ones potential. i hope one day, the world will be drug free.

reply to post by gt500kr


I would say that rape would tear apart one's potential more so. I have never heard of anyone dieing from pot.

There are a lot of crimes out there worse that that.

reply to post by breakingdradles

Since we started letting the corporations own and operate prisons, who do you think they would rather have as inmates?

Killers or peaceful potheads?

If I was a peaceful pothead, getting a prison sentence like this would turn me from a peaceful pothead into a killer.


reply to post by Doc Velocity

Haven't you known a guy who you wished would get busted for something? For anything? He's such a pain in the ass that everything would be better if he went away to prison!

Not until I read this comment of yours...



What ever happened again to the unalienable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness?
For my stance on the drug war, just read my signature.

reply to post by Aggie Man


You can try it if you are really convinced it would work, but just have enough money for a lawyer. The full faith and credit thing is really for upholding judgements. Sometimes cases like this come up but they are rare, it is really for small violations of the law not outright breaking of it. Some states do not even honor each others consealed weapon permits. You can't drive 80 on a california freeway becuase you come from new mexico. Doctors can't even practice medicine and write Rxs outside of the state they have the licence for.
Transporting the medical pot might work if you went to a state that has medical pot.
But like i said if you are so cinvinced you are right try it, we may get to see a thread about you.

[edit on 9-3-2010 by zaiger]

reply to post by gt500kr


anything other than food that you take into your body is a drug - do you want people to not be able to take aspirin for headaches? ibuprofen for inflammation? do you drink alcohol? do you smoke cigarettes? what about coffee and soda, do you drink those? seriously, think before you reply people.

the laws are bass-ackwards here, but it really depends on what part of the state you are in. 35 years is harsh and his priors should not have been a factor, however - having scales, bags and a QP in a school zone does not look good. on top of that, i did not know that "day-care centers" are considered "schools" or "school zones".

interesting enough, what they really bust you on is tax evasion, not having your "hemp stamp" - just like growing your own tobacco. why is there not a "tax evasion" law for brewing your own beer? so we can make something that can drive us crazy or kill us, but we can't grow something that alleviates pain, increases appetite and helps with insomnia?

Originally posted by gt500kr
pot is illegal, therefor users should be punished to the fullest extent of the law. i have known people using this stuff since junior high, and it really does just tear apart ones potential. i hope one day, the world will be drug free.

One's potential...that is the biggest issue with the criminalization of this stuff...is that the government takes it upon themselves to determine what one should and shouldn't do with their bodies. Aside from this stuff being relatively harmless to the user; court trials, incarceration and the war on drugs itself is a financial burden to the US tax payer. Especially when one looks at the complete failure of the anti-drug movement.

I feel sympathy for the devastated lives of the people you have known using this stuff since junior high...but that was the problem...they were kids and acted irresponsibly with the stuff.

There are much worse things that one can consume...and most of them are legal.

[edit on 9-3-2010 by Aggie Man]

reply to post by gt500kr

Oh please. More peoples lives have been ruined by drinking and driving than from smoking pot.
A drug free world? Even if it means infringing on peoples god given rights?

[edit on 9-3-2010 by DeathShield]

reply to post by zaiger

Maybe try to get picked for a trial where you do not believe in the case. Such as this.

That is not how a jurry trial works, the jurrors are instructed to make an obective decision based on the evidence shown to them. They do not decide if the law is enforced or not they make their decision on "was the law broken and did this guy break it" , not "that law is dumb so not guilty".

Go read your history books, there was a time when jurors decided the law and the facts of the case.

Take it from the first Chief Justice of the SCOTUS - John Jay:

In 1794 in Georgia v. Brailsford (1794), Supreme Court Justice John Jay upheld jury instructions stating "you [jurors] have ...a right to take upon yourselves to ...determine the law as well as the fact in controversy." Jay noted for the jury the "good old rule, that on questions of fact, it is the province of the jury, on questions of law, it is the province of the court to decide," but this amounted to no more than a presumption that the judges were correct about the law. Ultimately, "both objects [the law and the facts] are lawfully within your power of decision."

That is a power the state has effectively taken from the people through propaganda and the spreading of ignorance which has left few citizens aware of a juror's right and power to nullify a law.

[edit on 9-3-2010 by Bobbox1980]

Originally posted by zaiger
reply to post by Aggie Man

 

You can try it if you are really convinced it would work, but just have enough money for a lawyer. The full faith and credit thing is really for upholding judgements. Sometimes cases like this come up but they are rare, it is really for small violations of the law not outright breaking of it. Some states do not even honor each others consealed weapon permits. You can't drive 80 on a california freeway becuase you come from new mexico. Doctors can't even practice medicine and write Rxs outside of the state they have the licence for.
Transporting the medical pot might work if you went to a state that has medical pot.
But like i said if you are so cinvinced you are right try it, we may get to see a thread about you.

[edit on 9-3-2010 by zaiger]

Nah, I don't think I will attempt that...especially given the fact that I don't use the stuff. I only mentioned it as a possible means of circumventing the law for those that do partake...as I find prohibition on this substance to be a massive waste of tax payer resources.

He probably hired a lawyer. Never work with a lawyer.
This is a good reference....
familyrights.us...

web.archive.org...://www.geocities.com/Heartland/7006/rulebook.html#anchor3

Once again, thank you for all your replies.

Ok, so, just to clarify. The feeling I'm getting from some of the comments is that you think that he WAS selling to toddlers at the day care centre? And that's one of the reasons justifying the sentence? Is that correct?

Huuuge imagination stretch...

And I do love the word "draconian"...

[edit on 9-3-2010 by TheComte]

reply to post by TheComte


I believe that the punishment for drug use should be no more harmful to the individual than the drug itself.

Due to anti-drug propaganda few people know pot is less dangerous than alcohol. Unlike alcohol, pot doesn't kill brain cells it only stimulates them.

reply to post by TheComte


I do not think anyone believes he was selling to toddlers. The sentance was justified because:

1. it was 4 ounces, some of it in smaller bags with a scale. Now that is intent to distribute.
2. This is his third fellony
3. It was near a daycare which carries stiffer penalties.
There are other reasons for the drug-free zones besides the issue of selling to kids, i mean what day-care kid is going to school with 20 bucks and an urge to get high? Part of the reason for this law is because of the violence that can come from drug deals gone bad.

reply to post by CX


I've known people to keep scales in their cars as not to get screwed over by any of the dealers they went to. These people were not dealers themselves. Just thought I would put that out there.

reply to post by angrymomma


Do these friends also carry 4 ounces put into individual baggies and a scale?

i know this is short, but i would just like to remind you all that alcohol is a drug too.

also, maybe imprisonment for rape is too short?

reply to post by zaiger


Your stance on how a jury trial works, is proof that where ever you learned the stance you are taking, the propaganda is working.

The purpose of a jury trial is EXACTLY for the guilt of a defendant and the validity of the law in question.

Let us say that the government passed a law that was totally wrong. Do you think we as a nation should, wait until the SC points out the law is wrong or can we as sovereign citizens refuse to convict because of it?

Do we put millions in jail? Has already happened. Do we destroy the fabric of our society? Already happening.

Or do we our best to throw out these draconian laws by our GOD GIVEN right to say ENOUGH already with the MADNESS.

Thanks for listening to this broadcast of the TRUE MEANING of the jury trial. Without the propaganda pushing the Federal Draconian Agenda.

reply to post by zaiger



I have known a few people that carry scales and extra EMPTY baggies (after just buying as to..share in the booty after arriving safely to someone's home). I was just replying to it being suspicious that someone was carrying electronic scales. But YES it was suspicious to carry 4 filled baggies AND a scale. I will give you that ^_^.

i don't b eleive that growing or smoking marijuana is a criminal activity

in fact i just replied in a thread about the amish saying how the amish grow medical marijuana for the US government a second ago

the amish would not get into something that was 'inherently' a bad idea, they are too god fearing and whatnot

sure people die in crimes that are drug related, but back during prohibition people did crazy stuff like they do these days for marijuana just to get a glass of beer! the crime is not the drug, my point.

this man does not deserve jail time for possesion of a crop.