Thank God for the wisdom of this jury!
He had 46 marijuana plants...yeah right it was all for his personal use!!
(1) All things considered, marijuana consumption is really not a good thing, it seems to me; and especially so among young people, whose brains and personalities are not yet entirely formed.
(2) Usually, "medical" marijuana usage is merely a stalking horse for recreational marijuana usage. And I would much prefer candor to a more disingenuous approach.
(3) Nonetheless, I really do not think that laws against marijuana usage--including recreational usage--are wise and prudent. That is because laws that are simply unenforceable (or enforceable only in a most capricious manner) tend to breed contempt for the law, in general. And that is not a good thing.
Using marijuana is, with extremely rare medical exceptions, harmful and stupid. However, the laws against that drug have been ineffective, leading to harmful and stupid actions with long-term legal consequences. I’ll happily trade the ability to enforce a weak law for a broader awareness of jury nullification. I’d like to see far more jury nullification in this country, and for that reason this verdict is a step in the right direction overall.
First off I do NOT like or use mind altering drugs, including alcohol.
With that said I used to support the WOD... BIG MISTAKE!
I now know that the War on ‘Drugs’ was and still is a a ‘Gateway Law’ or legislation that has eviscerated a major portion of the bill of rights and the first ten amendments to the constitution.
The War on Drugs legislation left America and it’s citizens open to the “War on Terrorism” and the terrible legislation that followed it.
So now a days we have ‘civil forfeiture’ for having too much cash, theft of homes and property for having ‘drugs’ on it or being used by people there. We all know or of heard of unscrupulous law ‘enforcement’ planting ‘evidence’ and stealing cars, homes... ranches, even whole small businesses have been wiped out by these tactics.
So to make a long post shorter let’s just say that I approve of this Jury nullification and hope that many, many more follow in it’s tracks.
Hmm.. A better option for the jury would have been to find him not guilty on the marijuana charges, but slap him with a fine for lying to the court. 46 plants is not one person’s medi-marijuana stash. No possible way.