Posted on 01/02/2003 5:17:17 AM PST by Sparta
BENTON - Prosecutors around the country are being urged to take a stand against attempts to legalize or decriminalize controlled substances - in particular, marijuana.
“Those who support drug legalization are well funded and highly adept at manipulating the media,” reads a Nov. 1 letter to prosecutors from the president of the National District Attorneys Association, Dan M. Alsobrooks. “And they do not mind deceiving the American public as well.”
The letter warns of “incremental victories” by those in favor of legalizing drugs and notes the “key role” local prosecutors play in anti-drug efforts.
Included with the letter was an open letter also dated Nov. 1 from Scott M. Burns, deputy director for state and local affairs for the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, urging prosecutors “to take a stand publicly and tell Americans the truth” about marijuana and warning of “deceptive campaigns to normalize and ultimately legalize the use of marijuana.”
“I think it would be a nightmare to legalize it,” agreed Scott County Assistant Prosecutor Paul Boyd. “It would lead to so many more people out there high operating machinery and other things.” Boyd will be sworn in as the next county prosecutor at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday.
Of the 16 million drug users in America, 77 percent use marijuana and 60 percent of teenagers in treatment have a primary marijuana diagnosis, according to Burns. “No drug matches the threat posed by marijuana.”
Marijuana, Burns writes in the letter, is not harmless but has risen as a factor in emergency room visits 176 percent since 1994, surpassing heroin.
Burns writes of the increasing potency of marijuana and its addictive properties in addition to being a “gateway drug” for many people.
“I would agree that marijuana is a gateway drug to hardcore drugs,” Boyd said. Marijuana is “the great seducer,” Boyd said, because “it breaks down a person’s defense to say ‘no’ to the harder drugs.”
John McMinn of Charleston, administrator for the Circuit 33 Drug Court, also agrees that marijuana remains a problem for the courts.
According to National Institute of Justice statistics on arrests, 39 percent of the males and 26 percent of the females test positive for marijuana, and 53 percent of male juveniles and 38 percent of female juveniles test positive. “Roughly 80 percent of adult offenders in the 33rd Circuit Court come in with some kind of a drug issue be it alcohol or some other drug,” McMinn said.
“More people enter drug treatment every year because of marijuana as their drug of choice,” he added.
McMinn said a 2001 study of students in grades 8-10 showed 20 percent of 8th graders had used marijuana and 9 percent were current users, defined as having used the drug within the past 30 days. By the 12th grade, nearly half of the students had tried marijuana and 22 percent were current users.
McMinn does think research on medicinal and therapeutic properties should be pursued: “There is still so much research left to be done regarding the use of marijuana - the good and the bad.”
However, “there are other drugs that will work as well as marijuana,” he added, with some of the alternatives being more addictive and others that are just as effective while being safer.
I think not, although I'm sure he wouldn't have been pro-StoniesEverywhere, either.
That's a good question and not that easy to answer. If you really cared what He thinks then consider that His first miracle was to turn water into wine, not grape juice as Baptists would have you believe. But that doesn't mean weed is ok with Him anymore than "Let him without sin cast the first stone" means that all sin is just fine with Him either.
Possession of 28.5 grams or less of marijuana is not an arrestable offense. As long as the offender can provide sufficient identification and promises to appear in court, the officer will not arrest the offender. Upon conviction of the misdemeanor charge the offender is subject to a fine of $100. Possession of greater than 28.5 grams is punishable by up to six months in jail and a fine of up to $500.If indeed 99 out of 100 who are arrested are done so at the state level, then 99 out of 100 who are bothered at all are given either a ticket or a verbal warning only. Even so, probably 99 out of 100 users never have any dealings with the justice system anyway.Decriminalization: The state has decriminalized marijuana to some degree. Typically, decriminalization means no prison time or criminal record for first-time possession of a small amount for personal consumption. The conduct is treated like a minor traffic violation.
And what does God think of you getting high? Oh, my bad. Forget you don't give a rip what God thinks. Or do you?
Using California as an example, where possession has been a misdemeanor for decades...
I believe people that do data analysis refer to this as "cherry picking".
That's not the question---the question is whether caging adults for using weed is OK with Him. I think that "Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's and render unto God the things that are God's" and "Put away your sword" strongly suggest otherwise.
Is there any reason to think God wants her caged for getting high?
I'd love to know---but I won't hold my breath waiting for an answer from Roscoe.
It's still not quite that simple. The verses about the government being God's ministers for your own good and they don't carry the sword in vain implies that IF it really is ultimately worse for man that drugs be more legal then some control is a good thing. But we agree that there is an analog function between a pot plant grown along a tomato plant in your garden vs being a major crack dealer. The two can not be discussed in the same conversation.
Roscoe likes to stick to the facts - very carefully selected ones.
Interesting---thank you very much for the information. But I wonder, and maybe this is more of a question for Roscoe, if MJ possession is already being treated in many US jurisdictions as a slap on the wrist, on a policy level, why maintain such a strict federal prohibition on marijuana possession? Why all the angst from the top, especially now?
I give a crap what God "thinks." But why do you assume God's a tongue-clucking nosy neighbor? After all, he created both alcohol and marijuana and everything else under the sun. Are you assuming God effed up in this regard?
No they don't; they do say that government power MAY be legitimate, but that's a far cry from "IF it really is ultimately worse for man that drugs be more legal then some control is a good thing."
Problem is--for the pro-WOSD folks--a pot plant and crack or heroin are one and the same. To many folks, this is the height of hypocrisy and undercuts the entire concept of a morally-defensible WarOnSomeDrugs. Seems to me that the pro-WOSD folks have drawn the line in the sand are unwilling to admit that they drew it in the wrong place.
IMHO, a WOSD that had a chance to succeed would de-criminalize the WhackyWeed and focus on voluntary testing efforts to weed out abusers of other substances, but this article proves that sorta thinking is beyond the Federales' imagination. That's sorta why I feel the Feds secretly want this WOSD to fail so that they can simply ratchet up the level of Civil Liberties the Fascists can deprive the American citizenry.
FReegards...MUD
And according to the Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics--1996, Bureau of Justice Statistics; Albany, NY: Hindelang Criminal Justice Research Center, 1997; p. 413, table 4.38, the DEA made 5,835 marijuana arrests in 1996.
A couple of arrests per state per week. The typical pothead is about as likely to hit a state lottery as to be arrested by the DEA.
Well we probably agree that the gmt doesn't need to be empowered to try and prevent weed from being smoked anymmore than it needs to be empowered to overtly control prostitution. Prostitution is not a good thing and should not be promoted, but it is not something that can be stopped with a few billion dollars worth of cops either.
Weed is not really a good thing though it smells great at concerts. I don't want to see it promoted on TV commercials but I don't want to see billions spent to try and micro-manage everyone's weekend hours either. I could probably ax my neighbor for a j tonight and get one without much worry about repercussion. Ditto if I wanted a ho. We are not really that without liberty, and maybe the very slight risk makes it a little more fun.
I wonder why you're not answering this question.
You want risk, marry a woman who opposes your activities---don't impose your need for risk on the rest of us.
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