I think casual marijuana use should be de-criminalized.
This is selective prosecution. period.
Sunday, Jan. 11, 2004 6:05 p.m. EST Limbaugh Critic: Rush's Rights at Risk Making clear that he's anything but a fan of Rush Limbaugh, Waldo Proffitt, columnist and former editor of Florida's Sarasota Herald-Tribune, says that Rush is entitled to the same rights as any other American citizen. Proffitt added ominously that, in Limbaugh's case, it appears his rights are at risk. Writing in the Herald-Tribune this weekend, Proffitt noted that Palm Beach County prosecutors have seized the records of four of Limbaugh's doctors and appear to be moving in the direction of charging him with "doctor shopping" – going to different doctors to obtain multiple prescriptions for drugs. "Florida considers doctor-shopping a serious offense," Proffitt explained, adding: "Conviction can bring a prison sentence of up to five years. Yet a record search by the Palm Beach Post found that the county had filed charges in only one case. The defendant in that case died before coming to trial." Proffitt also quoted Limbaugh's lawyer, Roy Black, as charging that "Rush Limbaugh has been singled out for special prosecution because of who he is. We believe the state attorney's office is applying a double standard." Proffitt commented, "The possibility that statement might be right is what worries me." "It is precisely because he is who he is that Limbaugh is getting splattered with so much opprobrium. That's fair. But celebrity should not affect the way a person is treated under and by the law. If Limbaugh were just your average citizen, I doubt the prosecutor would be spending all this time on his case. Mr. Average Citizen might be prosecuted, but, given the preponderance of the evidence, he would probably plead guilty to one misdemeanor count, pay a fine and go about his business." Predicting that "Limbaugh may yet do that," Proffitt asked, "And what harm to public welfare argues against it? What is at stake sufficient to justify the invasion of privacy involved in opening medical records?" "I think the seizure and public disclosure of medical records is serious business – an assault on privacy rights that should only be used in rare circumstances when necessary information cannot be obtained in any other way. And, it seems to me enough information is already available to justify filing charges." Proffitt is not the only liberal concerned about the apparent selective prosecution of Rush. Democratic pundit and former Harvard law professor Susan Estrich recently said the Florida inquiry into Rush's prescription drug addiction "stinks, this one really stinks." Estrich offered her comments to Fox News' Geraldo Rivera. "I have been sitting here stewing about this Rush Limbaugh one for a long time," Estrich said. "First of all, this doctor shopping: How many senior citizens decide which doctor they like better? This notion they are going to get him for going to two doctors in the same thirty-day period to dupe them into giving him a medication, this is an utterly ridiculous charge."
Rush isn't decrying any drug laws so why should he make an issue of pot laws. (FWIW I often argue for legalisation of Cannabis.) The problem here is not the application of the law it is the jihadi application for political reasons.