Don't just legalize marijuana, free prior offenders

slimvictor

slimvictor

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"Darkness cannot be dissipated with more darkness.
With pot now legally for sale in Colorado, and Washington state gearing up to follow suit, marijuana legalization activists across the country are pushing hard to replicate these political successes in other states. Voters in Massachusetts could ratify legalized marijuana as early as 2016.

This is undoubtedly a sign of progress. Our nation has capriciously squandered far too many precious national resources combating a green weed that makes people feel good.

As welcome as a more widespread regulated marijuana industry would be, however, one thing that no one seems to be considering is what to do with those already convicted of marijuana crimes. It’s estimated that 750,000 people are arrested every year on marijuana-related charges and up to 40,000 are currently in prison for marijuana crimes.

When Colorado legalized marijuana via its 2012 ballot initiative, it made no stipulation about the fate of those already convicted of marijuana crimes. If you were sitting in prison for selling pot, you’re still there. If you were ever convicted of a felony marijuana charge, it’s still on your record — and your prospects of getting a decent job are likely still daunting.

The decision by activists not to include leniency for previous offenders in the Colorado marijuana ballot initiative (even if it would have been good policy) made perfect political sense. It’s far easier to sell voters on the financial benefits of creating a lucrative new marijuana industry than it is to persuade them to open up the prison gates and set convicts free.

In most of the world, however, no such political calculus is required.

According to a 2012 report by the Human Rights and Criminal Sentencing Reform Project for the University of San Francisco School of Law, the United States is one of only 22 countries that doesn’t guarantee what’s called “retroactive ameliorative relief” in sentencing. Which means that when a law such as one legalizing marijuana is passed in America, those already convicted of marijuana crimes don’t automatically have their sentences relaxed. This puts us in the company of such bastions of social justice as Pakistan, Oman and South Sudan.
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http://www.latimes.com/opinion/opin...enders-20140115,0,3562757.story#ixzz2r148b1Rb
 
Bull shit the US is way better than Packistan.. to compare us to them.. wow we have way more of our population in jail right.. the shame of being compared to harmless Pakistan.. List of countries by incarceration rate We even have two in the top four!!!.. Pakistan I dont even know if they made the list.. why would they let anyone out if they have hardly anyone in prison.. we here in america have a whole sick business that is flourishing off the exploitation of drug users and addicts.. who will feed this economic system if we release the harmless grass heads.. you got to see the bigger picture... take down a might devil operation like that.. for what the sake of letting 41,000 good people go. Where are you priorities. We might loose our standing as the most fucked legal system on the planet.

"Federal government figures indicate there are more than 41,000 Americans in state or federal prison on marijuana charges right now, not including those in county jails. That’s more than the number imprisoned on all charges combined in eight individual European Union countries.”" >source<
 
This would probably improve the economy more than anything ever tried. Reinstating tens of thousands of peoples' right to earn enough income to be required to pay taxes. The political yanks are downright sadistic.
 
Nobody should be in jail for putting drugs in their own body, or selling drugs to adults.
When you have a situation like this, it is clear that the government has overstepped its boundaries and needs to take a step back.
If you don't like drugs, don't use them.
Simple as that.
 
slimvictor said:
Nobody should be in jail for putting drugs in their own body, or selling drugs to adults.
When you have a situation like this, it is clear that the government has overstepped its boundaries and needs to take a step back.
If you don't like drugs, don't use them.
Simple as that.
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Couldn't agree more with this post!
Well put slim.

The only reason any of these people are jailed has nothing to do with the substances they are condemned for and everything to do the money accumulated from there arrest, seized assets, and continuous incarceration.
 
weekend addiction said:
My friends life has forever been altered because of a felony sale charge over 20 bucks worth of weed during his first month of college. They really need to do this.
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Really? What was he majoring in? I had a buddy and his two roommates get busted with around 8lbs, a couple e's and some cocaine (residue on a mirror, but they were still charged with it) and none of them really got anything out of it. Probation for one (the one who was behind it all) a couple weekends in jail for another, both having their records expunged after five years, I think. The third fled the state. I heard a rumor that he sent the DA a letter taking responsibility and admitting everything, but I don't know how true it is. I wonder if he's still a fugitive...
 
Hammilton said:
Really? What was he majoring in? I had a buddy and his two roommates get busted with around 8lbs, a couple e's and some cocaine (residue on a mirror, but they were still charged with it) and none of them really got anything out of it. Probation for one (the one who was behind it all) a couple weekends in jail for another, both having their records expunged after five years, I think. The third fled the state. I heard a rumor that he sent the DA a letter taking responsibility and admitting everything, but I don't know how true it is. I wonder if he's still a fugitive...
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Well I don't know his major at the time but he finally finished his degree in Cultural Antropology. To this days he faces barriers in employment, housing, etc. He was a really good trustworthy guy and nothing about his behavior should have been illegal.
 
Oh, agreed about the law thing. However, it seems really hard to believe that anyone could be that significantly hurt by a minor possession charge like that. Sure, I know that you have to list criminal charges on different applications, but I would think most places would overlook something as minor as that.

How did he end up with his first charge end up not being expunged after so long? Was he poor or possess some type of non-white skin color? I mean, if my buddy can get charged with distribution when caught with eight pounds, how can this fella be caught with what I assume was less than 2 grams (20 bucks seems cheap for half an eighth, so I assume less than that). I realize that was also a distribution charge, as well, though.

NSFW:
There has to be more to the story. Anyone with even a half decent lawyer should have been able to get something like this dropped by agreeing to take drug counseling classes or at least greatly reduced. Obviously this was reduced somewhat- he didn't go to prison over it (I assume, at least), but I had so many friends get caught in college it became a bit of a joke. We used to take bong rips in the wooden thing surrounding the dumpsters in the parking lot that was in the middle of three dorms in a U shape. I can't tell you how many times we'd be doing this when the cops would make their rounds through the parking lot, we would just end up chatting with them and hope they wouldn't go looking for the weed. A few times they frisked us, and told us we were lucky we ditched the joint, because they weren't going to bother searching for it. The one time we actually got caught, caught, not just 'we know what's up, but we're not gonna pursue it,' the cop looked in my buddies pack of cigs. He'd just gotten one of those cigarette rolling machines and had rolled himself a whole pack of joints for some stupid reason. He had gone to get one out while the cop was there but realized he didn't have any actual cigs on him. He tried to hide the mistake, but the smell was obvious. The cop asked to see them and when he looked at them he started asking if we had any prior charges and stuff. At that point none of us had, so he just took our names and confiscated the weed. After that we just started going down by the lake and smoked behind the boat houses or under the bridge. We still saw the cops once in a while, but when we did we'd toss whatever was on us in the lake. The only one of us to actually get a charge back then (this was long before the one even started dealing) got caught down there alone and instead of dropping his bowl in the lake he threw it in the woods on the other side of the road. They saw him throw it for fucks sake, the cherry was apparently glowing and visible in the dark so they had a good idea what had happened. They stopped, talked and smelled him, no doubt and charged him with possession and tampering with evidence or something like that. He only got probation out of that, but I think he got quite a fine, too.

Maybe my school was more lenient about drug use. I know in my nutrition course I showed up for an exam having eaten way, way too many Ativan. I kept thinking it wasn't working so I kept taking more. I had been really anxious about something and sleeping terrible, so the campus doc gave me a bunch of them. I was okay when I got there, but shortly afterwards it really hit me. I kept hiccuping over and over and I couldn't stop it. The professor asked if I was okay, and in front of the whole class I announced, 'yeah, I've just had way too much valium, I'm a little messed up, I'm sorry.' The whole class burst out laughing as she was handing out the exams. My wife was sitting next to me and kept hitting me. I felt bad (or something) so I went as fast as I could. I think I was the first or second one finished, and she laughed when I gave it to her, and asked if I was just giving up on this one. I told her something like, 'no, I thought I'd make it easy for you to grade and only use the right answers' or 'nah, this one can just be your back-up answer key, there won't be a difference.' (I don't remember, two people told me what happened, but they disagree on the ver batim). So I went and waited in the hall for my wife, who took maybe another half hour. I was so messed up that it took her and two friends to help me walk back home. I was apparently an ass the whole way, too, copping a feel on two of them and saying some pretty mean things to the other. Anyway, next week the prof put up a graph of all the exam scores, because she graded on a curve. She asked me to stand up and take a bow because I took the only perfect score.

In another class I routinely discussed the effects of various drugs on my writing, though that was a one-on-one thing, not with a whole class present. It was interesting, actually, to consider my writings, especially my poetry, as a reflection of whatever substance they were written under.

Bet you can guess at least the class of substance I'm writing this under, lol. I was having a hard time getting to sleep and now I think I heard a mouse in my walls. Oh God... I hate nothing more than mice and rats. Last year we had three get into the upstairs walls somehow, and my wife had to empty the traps. If there are mice in here again, it's going to be hard to sleep for other reasons. It's and old house, there's been lots of remodelling and the inside is very nice, but it's not surprising that a few mice may make it in every once in a while. Oh damn, yes, I definitely heard a mouse scratching in the wall....
 
Most places toss the majority of applications into the trash. Any obvious error/record and your chances are nil unless they desperately need an employee with your skills. If you say you are a convicted criminal, why would they bother with you? Employers aren't exactly enlightened, they are businessmen. A minor possession charge could very well force you into a minimum wage packaging plant or on the streets selling dope. Minimizing the repercussions of a record only serves the drug warriors' ideology, helping them rationalize destroying peoples' lives.

Also, many countries like Canada and Australia will not let you in if you have the slightest drug record within the last decade or so even if for a vacation.
 
When weed goes legal in my state, they should remove prior weed charges.. i have one from like 6 years ago even though it's not a felony i still want it off my record.
 
Agreed. They should be freed. No one should be going to jail for a plant. It just doesnt make sense...and as everyone knows it doesnt have to make sense, as most us gov policy doesnt. Obama compares pot to booze and a few days later the white house basically contradicts what he said. Prison is a place for violent people and agressive people that cause harm to others. The kid smoking a joint in his house is only causing harm to himself. And im talking less than minimal harm, and thats his body and his right to put whatever he wants into it.
 
Hammilton said:
Oh, agreed about the law thing. However, it seems really hard to believe that anyone could be that significantly hurt by a minor possession charge like that. Sure, I know that you have to list criminal charges on different applications, but I would think most places would overlook something as minor as that.

How did he end up with his first charge end up not being expunged after so long? Was he poor or possess some type of non-white skin color? I mean, if my buddy can get charged with distribution when caught with eight pounds, how can this fella be caught with what I assume was less than 2 grams (20 bucks seems cheap for half an eighth, so I assume less than that). I realize that was also a distribution charge, as well, though.

NSFW:
There has to be more to the story. Anyone with even a half decent lawyer should have been able to get something like this dropped by agreeing to take drug counseling classes or at least greatly reduced. Obviously this was reduced somewhat- he didn't go to prison over it (I assume, at least), but I had so many friends get caught in college it became a bit of a joke. We used to take bong rips in the wooden thing surrounding the dumpsters in the parking lot that was in the middle of three dorms in a U shape. I can't tell you how many times we'd be doing this when the cops would make their rounds through the parking lot, we would just end up chatting with them and hope they wouldn't go looking for the weed. A few times they frisked us, and told us we were lucky we ditched the joint, because they weren't going to bother searching for it. The one time we actually got caught, caught, not just 'we know what's up, but we're not gonna pursue it,' the cop looked in my buddies pack of cigs. He'd just gotten one of those cigarette rolling machines and had rolled himself a whole pack of joints for some stupid reason. He had gone to get one out while the cop was there but realized he didn't have any actual cigs on him. He tried to hide the mistake, but the smell was obvious. The cop asked to see them and when he looked at them he started asking if we had any prior charges and stuff. At that point none of us had, so he just took our names and confiscated the weed. After that we just started going down by the lake and smoked behind the boat houses or under the bridge. We still saw the cops once in a while, but when we did we'd toss whatever was on us in the lake. The only one of us to actually get a charge back then (this was long before the one even started dealing) got caught down there alone and instead of dropping his bowl in the lake he threw it in the woods on the other side of the road. They saw him throw it for fucks sake, the cherry was apparently glowing and visible in the dark so they had a good idea what had happened. They stopped, talked and smelled him, no doubt and charged him with possession and tampering with evidence or something like that. He only got probation out of that, but I think he got quite a fine, too.

Maybe my school was more lenient about drug use. I know in my nutrition course I showed up for an exam having eaten way, way too many Ativan. I kept thinking it wasn't working so I kept taking more. I had been really anxious about something and sleeping terrible, so the campus doc gave me a bunch of them. I was okay when I got there, but shortly afterwards it really hit me. I kept hiccuping over and over and I couldn't stop it. The professor asked if I was okay, and in front of the whole class I announced, 'yeah, I've just had way too much valium, I'm a little messed up, I'm sorry.' The whole class burst out laughing as she was handing out the exams. My wife was sitting next to me and kept hitting me. I felt bad (or something) so I went as fast as I could. I think I was the first or second one finished, and she laughed when I gave it to her, and asked if I was just giving up on this one. I told her something like, 'no, I thought I'd make it easy for you to grade and only use the right answers' or 'nah, this one can just be your back-up answer key, there won't be a difference.' (I don't remember, two people told me what happened, but they disagree on the ver batim). So I went and waited in the hall for my wife, who took maybe another half hour. I was so messed up that it took her and two friends to help me walk back home. I was apparently an ass the whole way, too, copping a feel on two of them and saying some pretty mean things to the other. Anyway, next week the prof put up a graph of all the exam scores, because she graded on a curve. She asked me to stand up and take a bow because I took the only perfect score.

In another class I routinely discussed the effects of various drugs on my writing, though that was a one-on-one thing, not with a whole class present. It was interesting, actually, to consider my writings, especially my poetry, as a reflection of whatever substance they were written under.

Bet you can guess at least the class of substance I'm writing this under, lol. I was having a hard time getting to sleep and now I think I heard a mouse in my walls. Oh God... I hate nothing more than mice and rats. Last year we had three get into the upstairs walls somehow, and my wife had to empty the traps. If there are mice in here again, it's going to be hard to sleep for other reasons. It's and old house, there's been lots of remodelling and the inside is very nice, but it's not surprising that a few mice may make it in every once in a while. Oh damn, yes, I definitely heard a mouse scratching in the wall....
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Silly hamilton. He got caught on school grounds and I meant to say he had 3 twenty bags which is actually a lot of pot cause it was brick weed so it was MUCH closer to an ounce than you would think . He's white. He can't get it off his record AFAIK. Crazy stories bro.
 
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Only a blind moron would fail to see that non-violent cannabis possession inmates should be freed. How can the state possibly justify the waste of taxes/resources it costs to imprison a person whose being held for an offence that isn't even an offence any more? It's pretty absurd.
 
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