Attacking Judges, Not Drugs

I think it's time for all you American citizens to change your slogan "Land of the Free, home of the Brave".

I think not.

The Canadian border is easy to cross, just come up here.

It's so sad to see your country go down this path...
 
cilosyb said:
The passing of this bill would be a horribly bad thing. We already need massive prison reform, some people need to fucking learn that the way our legal system works as far as punishment is really fucking wrong. I actually believe this bill if passed could serve as a wakeup call...if any signifigant amount of the targeted people got the punishments described in the article, people might start to realize what a fucking mistake it is to prosecute drug users. But that's just wishful thinking and I'm sure it wouldn't work out that way.

I think that LEOs would really get fucked by this. If I got pulled over with a carfulladrugs by a cop with a dog and knew I was facing LIFE!, I probably wouldn't hesitate to take LIFE. The more you punish a group for a petty thing the worse it always becomes. No amount of legal precussion is going to stop drug use, and past a point, which this proposed bill is nearing, there will be retaliation by those targeted. Unfortunatly its not a major number of poeple. How do fucking psychos like that ever make it into lawmaking positions!?

Although my drug use has essentially stopped due to pursuing intersets which don't allow it, I would probably leave the country if this bill or anything similar was ever enacted and actively enforced. Everyone has the right to their own god damned state of mind and what they decide to ingest. Its not something that should be decided by a bunch of fucking corrupt publicity fiends.
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Good point. The harsher the penalties, the less you have to lose, and the more likely you are to go to extremes to avoid prosecution if you get caught. I bet the cops who are forced to enforce these laws are really gonna love it f it gets passed.
 
this makes me sad

once i build my own space shuttle i'm going to mars

i'll build huge 100-foot wide speakers all over half the planet and play bob marley loud enough for aliens to hear all day and grow tons + tons of marijuana

or...something...:( meh
 
At first I was going to post bitching about how this article was exaggerating how bad the proposed changes are, then I read the actual bill:

http://www.govtrack.us/data/us/bills.text/109/h1528.pdf

I am appalled!

DISTRIBUTION TO PERSONS UNDER 21 YEARS OF AGE FIRST OFFENSE:
5 years mandatory minimum!

DISTRIBUTION TO PERSONS UNDER 18 YEARS OF AGE BY 21+ - FIRST OFFENSE:
10 years

DISTRIBUTION TO PERSONS UNDER 21 YEARS OF AGE SECOND OR SUBSEQUENT OFFENSE:
10 years mandatory minimum!

DISTRIBUTION TO PERSONS UNDER 18 YEARS OF AGE BY 21+ - SECOND OR SUBSEQUENT OFFENSE:
LIFE SENTENCE

DISTRIBUTION OR MANUFACTURE NEAR SCHOOLS OR COLLEGES OR Public Libraries OR Private daycare facilities OR video arcade facility FIRST OFFENCE:
5 years mandatory minimum!

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the court shall not place on probation or suspend the sentence of any person sentenced under the preceding sentence.

To sell, offer for sale, facilitate the sale or offer to sell, or provide drug paraphernalia to any person under the age of 18 or to any person knowing that it is intended to be provided to or used by a person under the age of 18 years, or any person who violates subsection (a) by transporting, importing, or exporting drug paraphernalia knowing that it is intended to be provided to or used by a person under the age of 18 years,
shall be imprisoned for not less than 2 years nor more than 10 years.

This is quite scary, because drug paraphernalia has been construed very loosely in recent times. I would hate to be the first person to receive a 10 year sentence for sharing my water bottle with an overheating minor at a rave. What about those companies which sell the light-up blinking pacifiers? Are they the next to be convicted of trafficing in drug paraphernalia intended to be provided to a minor?


It shall be unlawful for any person who witnesses or learns of a violation of sections 416(b)(2), 417, 418, 419, 420, 424, or 426 [all the crap I told you about so far] to fail to report the offense to law enforcement officials within 24 hours of witnessing or learning of the violation and thereafter provide full assistance in the investigation, apprehension, and prosecution of the person violating paragraph (a).
Any person who violates subsection (a) of this section [the crap above] section shall be sentenced to not less than two years or more than 10 years. If the person who witnesses or learns of the violation is the parent or guardian, or otherwise responsible for the care or supervision of the person under the age of 18, such person shall be sentenced to not less than three years or more than 20 years

This last clause is the most appalling, because I can easily forsee a parent coming home to their underage child smoking a joint in their back-yard. It is quite reasonable to assume that an adult was somehow involved in the distribution of that marijuana to those children, and thus that adult is guilty of one of the above laws, and will get a 5 year to life sentence when convicted for their role. The parent is then LEGALLY OBLIGATED TO REPORT their own child's drug-use to law enforcement within 24 hours else receive a mandatory 3 to 20 year sentence, and a FELONY CONVICTION (and no longer be eligable to vote). Their child is then also legally obligated to turn in their supplier, and do all they can to assist the investigation, else recieve a 2-10 year mandatory sentence and a felony.

This law requires parents to turn against their children, else be seperated from them with a LONG jail sentence. This law makes it a SEVERE FELONY to conscientiously object to the drug-war by not fully cooperating with law-enforcement investigations, even if you have not personally committed ANY crimes.

This bill also seeks to attach SEVERE penalities (5 year mandatory minimums or MORE) to selling drugs NEAR (who defines NEAR? The prosecutor does!) or within 1000 feet of:
  • schools
  • colleges
  • public libraries
  • private daycare facilities
  • video arcade facilities
  • drug-treatment facilities
  • physicians or practitioners who treat drug-addicted patients (so just about any doctor in the US)
  • physicians or practitioners who prescribe or distribute opioid agonists to maintenance patients (so just about every pharmacy in the US)

Do you live less than a quarter mile from any of the above? Are you sure? In my city, there is an elementary school every half mile, a pharmacy every mile, day-care facilities in some of my neighbor's houses!

The bill also contains this most ususual paragraph:
(b) LIMITATIONS ON COMMISSION.—On and after the date of the enactment of this Act no amendment promulgated by the Sentencing Commission shall alter or repeal the effect of the amendments made by this section.
Click to expand...

What you should all be asking is: What can we do about it?
Unfortunately, my favorite political action group: www.drugpolicy.org doesn't yet have any action-items about this bill!
I have signed the petition at: http://www.gopetition.co.uk/online/6266.html

The well-respected Families against Mandatory Minimums has a page describing the disasterous potential of this bill to create many harsh new mandatory minimum sentences, including a link to their form on CapWiz to mail your representatives about this issue. This form (http://capwiz.com/famm/issues/alert/?alertid=7411406) is your best bet for getting your representative's attention, because it much better worded than NORML's similar letter, which only mentioned the sales of marijuana to somebody under 18 by somebody over 21, and the sales of marijuana to somebody currently in drug treatment, which are both crimes that are unlikely to garner sympathy from the typical congressman/woman.

My analysis of the bill leaves out the harsh limitations upon (and outright removal of) the power of the United States Sentencing Committee and the Judges to take any action towards recommend a sentence below these "guidelines", or take any special considerations into account. The following document does a decent job at conveying this:
http://sentencing.typepad.com/sentencing_law_and_policy/files/felmans_analysis_of_booker_fix.rtf
 
How stupid do you have to be to try and get laws like this passed? The more crazy these laws get, the more people will fight. Would I be correct in saying that in Thailand where they are using an extreme drug cleaning policy that the drug using populous is fighting back? The amount of danger cops face might now increase because while the amount of drug users decrease, those who still use are not afraid to fight for the peak of their life when they have a little bit of weed in their car facing an assured 5-10 after getting pulled over and shoots the cop. Its not that I want to see this nor do i plan to carry it out its just that if the incarceration rate reaches 1 for every 90 people there will almost definently be consequences to our government officials.
 
This is insane... Don't they know that they need to start a huge scare tactic push on the news to rile up the suburbs before they can pass this type of legislature?
 
i don' thave much faith left in this country or our legal/political system. I just have a really shitty feeling that in a few years it's gonna get really bad. i'm talking I will be owning a few guns and attempting to kill as many crazymotherfuckers as I can before they throw me in jail for 20 years for absolutely nothing.

we're alllllll fucked
 
This is yet ANOTHER reason I am SERIOUSLY considering moving out of this fucked up country. More and more of our so called freedoms are being slashed everyday. And everyday something new comes up that makes me want to get up and run... Just a few days ago I heard the gay men may not be allowed to donate sperm... Why? they say that they all have AIDS, and they'll contaminate the donations. WTF ever, that is why they have millions of tests. Yet another way the american government is discriminating against its own people...

But I can't help but wonder, is any other country any better? However, perhaps in 10-20 years time the American Government will have "brainwashed" other governments into thinking like them...? I am so sick of this place. Americans are the most lazy, sue happy, fat, bithces I've ever seen...I could scream! How I am ashamed...
 
so if my parents see me smoking a joint out in the backyard, they are obligated to report me to LEO within 24 hours or THEY are commiting a crime too? holy shit.... my parents are against pot, but wait till i tell them that THEY are breaking laws now too.... this is ridiculous...peace
 
I don't think this bill will pass. If it does, I'm moving the fuck out of the US.
 
Is there any word on how likely the bill is to pass? Is it just one crazy fucker with a psycho bill or does he have significant support?
 
whilst we may not be so free anymore, there are reasons. And yes, our legislation is warped. Our legal system is screwed, and our government is too powerful. But I can still say America hasn't gone completely to shit like everyone seems to think. I guess I will have to be personally torted myself before i learn.
 
well go to drugpolicy.org and sign a letter to your rep...i dunno how well things like that works..but its easy, and worth a shot.
 
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