27-Year-Old Man Gets "20 Years Hard Labor" for Half an Ounce of Pot

ignorant_ape
for everyone attacking this sentence : two words "states rights "

Yes, I suppose the States should have rights to pass grossly unjust laws. They should not have to integrate their public schools, could ban interracial marriages, and so on if the people vote that way. Tyranny can be justice in the eye of the voter.

States like Louisiana who have contract prison systems should be able to freely hand out inordinately long sentences and the judges should rightfully be free to receive kick-backs for helping keep those prisons populated in the financially lucrative range.

Serial pot-smoking could be considered akin to rape and murder and its sentences more severe, if it keeps the prisons profitable. Why should the law operate above those justifications? 20 years at hard labor is bound to make a little money for them, why not commit more resources to long-term servitude?

The law does not have to be right, nor does it have to be just. It need only be the law so it could serve the state, right?

reply to post by LightOrange




There are now 20 states that allow the use of medicinal marijuana with more states to follow, and the feds said they will not go after MM states.

Progress does not happen overnight, I want full legalization but I also believe in state rights.

Here is a tip for you all if you drive in or through a state that has strict laws, don't carry it .

goou111
Well I will never move to Louisiana..

A 27 year old new Orleans man got 20 years in prison for possession of 15 grams of pot..

He had a previous drug conviction and was sentenced as a multiple offender to 20 years hard labor at the Department of Corrections.

OMG 20 years for some weed wtf..

He is going to jail for breaking a stupid law, he was stupid to have anything on him after previous conviction(s) in New Orleans.....

Xtrozero

goou111
Well I will never move to Louisiana..

A 27 year old new Orleans man got 20 years in prison for possession of 15 grams of pot..

He had a previous drug conviction and was sentenced as a multiple offender to 20 years hard labor at the Department of Corrections.

OMG 20 years for some weed wtf..

He is going to jail for breaking a stupid law, he was stupid to have anything on him after previous conviction(s) in New Orleans.....

If people were serving time for stupidity the US would have far more than a mere 25% of the world's prison population behind their bars.

reply to post by goou111


This isn't about the pot. It is about the prison. They have quotas to fill and they do it with whatever they can get you on.
Prison system is big business and that 27 year old is a product that a prison will claim they care for him and charge for things he will never see, were never bought, the money gets siphoned off into many many pockets.
Wealthy people can afford doctors to prescribe their drugs and so they are legal. This is a "class system" at work. Is it fair? Hell no. I ran out of my drug of choice recently and was stuck in a situation where I could not smoke it anyway and so instead of an illegal, natural, almost healthy product, I turned to cigarettes, a mix of toxins, synthetics and tobacco, a mfg. legal drug.
I threw up occasionally for the first couple of days and when I didn't actually puke I dry heaved and gagged until my body acclimated itself to the chemicals in the cigarettes. A few times I got so dizzy, it is a good thing I wasn't operating a vehicle because it felt like I was going to faint. I remember worrying about how hard it was going to be to quit these cigarettes after I left here and how I might not do it and just let them kill me. I remember thinking "And this is legal?" There is something seriously wrong in this part of the world.
It's not about the pot, that prison wants a warm body. GOP Private Prison System Pushers...what a coincidence, they are the tobacco pushers too.

reply to post by goou111


The laws against weed are more dangerous then weed is itself to an individual. But for how much he had, maybe not a big time dealer, but he is a dealer, or is considered one. It's a #ty world we live in, because if it were legal or decriminalized then an individual would not need to have to operate in this way. One could simply go to the dispensary and pick up their weed. The laws need to change. 20 years hard labor, does that even refer to prison in any way, or just having a real job?

staple
I have lived in the Bayou and travel to NOLA often. I know two dealers that got busted and only one had any jail time. Less than a year. Amazing since it was a second or third strike. The guy that got no jail time... I swear this part is true. The cops left the pot. He was dealing out of his business and had a shop with a countertop for handling customers. The weed went into an evidence bag and was placed on the counter. The cops end up not taking the dealer in and settle with paperwork and release him. Then the cops leave but fail to take the weed. About a 1/2lb in a ziplock bag on the counter. The dealer left it there for a week even with customers coming in and asking about it. Then it started to shrink a small bit daily. About a week and the bag contained zero evidence. In the meantime he is checking the court daily to find out when he has to go in front of a judge. For those two weeks nothing was filed. Nothing since either.
The place is corrupt. If you can't persuade someone in power to your bidding you probably go to church with someone that can.
Jail. seen below it ain't too bad.

You her me?

Born and raised. Your last couple lines are accurate. It goes on everywhere, just not as brazen as here.

reply to post by goou111


And this is what's happening now in Amurica.

Just how much longer will the average American continue to walk around in a stupor completely unaware that his country is no longer the country he thinks it is?

Oh, football just started. Gotta run.

bkaust
I think it's incredibly stupid that one country can have states where its legal - and another state have such harsh penalties. To an outsider it just sounds totally ridiculous.

This is what this country is founded on. Different state have different laws, that's why voting locally much more important that voting for the president. Most Americans do not grasp this.
I do how ever think this is a ridiculous. We need to petition for this guy to be pardoned.
petitions.whitehouse.gov...

reply to post by spiderbadarse


What about all the other people in jail for being busted with a lid? Do we let them all out too, or just let them rot?

reply to post by SixX18

But for how much he had, maybe not a big time dealer, but he is a dealer, or is considered one.

If 15 grams of weed is considered a dealer then every pothead in America is a dealer..

The best stuff you can buy is 20$ a gram so 15 grams of top of the line weed is only 300$ worth

and jeez you can get that much of just average stuff for 40 bucks..

Not much of a dealer...

That's is a personnel use amount.. and they did not even charge him with intent to sell

You can doubt he was using it medicinally all you want. But your doubts do not necessarily equate to the truth.

But your wild presumptions about this man's health condition DO equate to truth?

doubly so if you don't have a highly marketable job skill.

Maybe he should have considered developing a "highly marketable job skill" instead of getting high.

Your opinion about him being a drug dealer seems to indicate further that you don't know what you're talking about.

Well actually, I am an ex-drug dealer and recovering addict. I spent 20 years smoking pot and several years addicted to other, more dangerous drugs. I am currently an addiction/recovery counselor. So, I would seriously challenge yet another of your wild presumptions.

This is not as simple as you're making it sound.

Yes it is. It's called personal accountability.

f4andHALFtoads
reply to post by mantisfortress

 

you are on the wrong site

mods... is idiot an offensive term around here?

please let me help you: www.communityvaluesforidiots.com

Cool story bro. I thought opposing viewpoints were welcome here, my bad. I'm sure you can look around to find a site where everybody agrees with you. I won't insult you though (a respect you failed to afford me). Have a great day!

This is just another of the many glaring examples of how the U.S. Justice (Just-Us) system makes a mockery of itself.

The birth The Corrections Corporation of America was an important step away from Godless socialism. The free market is what America is and will always be about. It's the way God intended it. The free market rewards the intelligent and puts the wealth in their hands where the greatest good can be done. He who has the money obviously knows what's best. America is designed to put its wealth in the hands of the smart and out of the hands of the dumb. If you are poor you are dumb. You don't deserve wealth.

I'm sorry for trolling, but I get laughed at when I present this argument honestly.

Sounds like the "three strikes and your out" law in Florida. It's a pendulum swing sort of attitude. Too many petty criminals were getting way with a lot of stuff, the citizens got pissed over the 12 foot long rap sheets so they instituted this law. Jails filled up quickly as did the prisons. The private prison system is wrong because obviously they want more people in prison and want to build more prisons.

I wonder if this was not also meant to send a message to those in the state of LA who might think about buying dope there. I bet some kids decide it's not worth it.

In the end, if you don't like the law then the citizens need to repeal it and make laws that allow for pot. Most people see it as a gateway drug and see it is going to ruin their kids lives, so they want it illegal. It's a tough battle but in my view knowledge is the key, and the more we can put out about the medical uses of pot and hemp oil the better. It's something that big pharma is scared of, and will fight tooth and nail.

UnifiedSerenity
Sounds like the "three strikes and your out" law in Florida.

Hmmmm, there might be a connection here...
www.thenation.com...#

It could be 15 years for 5lbs of sugar for those who believe in this system of justice.

This is why we have pot holes in the road.

double

It could be 15 years for 5lbs of sugar for those who believe in this system of justice.

This is why we have pot holes in the road.