cannabisnews.com: Dose of Justice Needed Here Dose of Justice Needed Here Posted by FoM on February 14, 2002 at 08:03:16 PT By Debra J. Saunders Source: San Francisco Chronicle On Tuesday, President Bush announced a new Drug Control Strategy with the goal of reducing illegal drug use in America by 25 percent over five years. Too bad that Bush forgot to address the glaring inequities in federal drug sentencing laws and practices. In fact, the closest Bush got to federal drug sentencing was his amorphous pledge to "punish those who deal in death." Sounds good, but the feds have so corrupted the drug sentencing laws that they often misuse conspiracy laws meant to punish drug kingpins. As a result, underlings get hard time and the kingpins -- who can testify against a league of underlings -- walk or receive reduced sentences. Which leads to five more items that should be part of the Bush drug strategy. First, Bush should send a directive to federal law enforcement agencies to not cut deals that enable kingpins to skate while they testify against their underlings. Julie Stewart of Families Against Mandatory Minimums calls this "trading down" and it goes against the intent of the law. "They're supposed to be working their way up the chain, not down," she noted. Second, Bush should tell federal prosecutors to charge small-time criminals and dealers' girlfriends only for the drugs they've handled, and not for the bulk drug traffic of their overlords. Said Stewart, "The quantity alone does not necessarily reflect the culpability of the defendant." Eric Sterling of the Criminal Justice Policy Foundation thinks Bush should send a management directive that says, "We're going to look at the significant cases, not just the numbers." Third, call for an overhaul of the draconian federal sentencing guidelines. It's possible, maybe even likely, that the administration will deliver on this. Stewart noted that the president "is aware that sentencing at the extremes is out of control." John Walters, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, told me, "We are undertaking a serious review of mandatory minimums." He hopes the review will be complete in four to six weeks. Readers should let the White House know that they support sentencing reforms. Fourth, Bush should start using his pardon power by commuting the sentences of first-time nonviolent drug offenders serving decades-long sentences in federal prison. Consider Clarence Aaron, who is serving a life sentence for hooking up two drug dealers on a huge drug deal. Yes, he deserves to serve time -- but not as much time as FBI agent-turned traitor Robert Hanssen. Fifth, Bush should let local and state governments pass their own laws. I realize this is easier said than done and that some cannabis clubs, for example, so flout federal drug laws -- by smoking pot publicly, for example -- that the feds might feel compelled to make a statement punctuated with handcuffs. But when local governments follow the letter of local laws -- and it could be argued that's not the case with some California medical marijuana clubs -- the Bushies should stand back. America's drug problem is so complicated that the nation only can benefit when different jurisdictions try different approaches. Whenever I write on this issue, I hear from two sets of extremists. Libertarians argue that all drugs should be legal; some even assert that if legal, drug use would go down. (If that were true, Washington could legalize white-collar crime and there would be less fraud. Who believes that?) Fact is, no one knows what would happen. The other extreme supports locking up all Clarence Aarons for life. One strike and you're out. They apparently believe their kids would never be so stupid -- I only hope that they're right. In the real world, there are some murderous opportunists who live large off the sweat of some not very bright (and not very malevolent) people. Save long sentences for the kingpins, and mete out lesser sentences to the street-level chumps. Allow locals to deal with their drug problems locally. There would be no better way for Bush to find support for his drug war in corners where he never found it before. Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA)Author: Debra J. SaundersPublished: Thursday, February 14, 2002 Copyright: 2002 San Francisco Chronicle Page A - 23 Contact: letters sfchronicle.comWebsite: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/Related Articles & Web Site:F.A.M.M.http://www.famm.org/Criminal Justice Policy Foundationhttp://www.cjcj.org/Bush Anti-Drug Strategy Stresses Community http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11992.shtmlBush Pledges To Reduce Nationwide Drug Use http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11991.shtmlBush Says Plan Will Cut Illegal Drug Use by 10% http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11987.shtml END SNIP --> Snipped Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #6 posted by idbsne1 on February 14, 2002 at 11:49:21 PT Jose By chance did you get to check your email at narcosoft?Again... nothing on TV. What is going on here? This is outrageous!!!!idbsne1 [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by sudaca on February 14, 2002 at 10:53:06 PT Want to know how many of us are fed up? Do like the ARGENTINES! Starting April 1st 2002 go outside at twighlight and bang your pots and pans for 5 minutes and listen.. the echoes you hear are of people as fed up as you are. pass this message along! let us know how many of us are there! Let us show our discontent so that those who are afraid know they're not alone. It's time to take back this country! [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by Unknown Pleasures on February 14, 2002 at 10:03:18 PT What????? "Libertarians argue that all drugs should be legal; some even assert that if legal, drug use would go down.(If that were true, Washington could legalize white-collar crime and there would be less fraud. Who believes that?)" What kind of misinformed, kindergarden analogy is this? White collar crime, for the most part, is essentially stealing, ripping others off for personal gain. Doing drugs is a process in which an individual injests a foreign substance for a desired mental/physical effect IN HIS OWN BODY. The effects of doing drugs, are between the idividual and his body, while white collar crime comes directly at the expense of others. If what happens in MY body, is not under the jurasdiction of 'personal freedom', then what the hell is !!!??? If the government tells us what we can and can't feel, what kind of freedom is it?Control, control, control... If you start experimenting with your own nervous system, you might start to think differently... it's far far easier to control the public if they all think alike. They are more accepting of propaganda, less likely to question and dissent if they are all forced to maintain one narrow state of consciousness.That's why the only legal recreational drug that actually alters conciousness, just numbs awarness. Law makers all equate 'getting high' with 'getting dumb'. To them, all drug induced states have the same same mental validity as being drunk. They never acknowledge what people have known for centuries: chemicals can be used to expand consciouness as well as contract it. That's why they're looking so hard for pot that 'won't get you high'. Because, dammit, people might actually experience something other than an alcohol induced stupor. Who knows, it might make them think creatively... And by God, we can't have that can we?? What kind of good fascists would we be, if we let the people experience things for themselves?Oh and by the way, legalizing white collar crime? It's been legal for a while, as long as you shred all the documents and pay off the right people. [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by Jose Melendez on February 14, 2002 at 09:16:35 PT: white collar crime IS legal! Maybe Washington has not legalized white collar crime - only decriminalized. The same politicians against legal marijuana are NOT going to prosecute Big Tobacco, alcohol, pharmaceutical OR oil executives. Maybe we should make a list, charting the patterns and following the money. By the way, note that the new campaign finance rules actually INCREASE individual donations from $1,000 dollars to $6,000.00 From: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n250/a08.html?397 SEIZING ASSETS We've seen many times in the past where individuals suspected of even low-level drug trafficking have had their assets seized by the government, without any judicial proceedings. In the Enron case, we keep hearing about all these executives and how many tens of millions of dollars they siphoned out of the company. Why aren't we seeing their assets seized? It would seems that perhaps our priorities are a little misplaced. Seth Tiven, Austin Arrest Prohibition - Drug War is TREASON [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by ekim on February 14, 2002 at 09:02:42 PT: C-Span needs to hear what happend in S.F. I call in when I can. They want you to only call once in 30 days. I have watched this week and not one mention of the clubs in S.F. Please people we need to call in with this news and that C-span should devote time for this issue. Today NY city is thinking of rasing the tax on smoks making them allmost 7 bucks a pack. When will someone draw the connection that the black market collectes no taxes. That the dea by busting legal clubs in S.F. is sending thousands to the street to the black market. How much will that cost the city of S.F. in lost taxes. [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by Sam Adams on February 14, 2002 at 08:32:04 PT I can barely contain myself.... This writer is so full of sh*t I can hardly stand it. Recognize that this writer is a full-on prohibitionist - a wolf in sheep's clothing to be sure. All the myths are here - reforms only want to legalize all drugs, medical clubs are really just fronts for a bunch of hippies that want to get high, etc, etc, etc."Extremist"? What's extreme? Arresting 734,000 people for a plant that's never killed anyone? That's an army of Americans being handcuffed and having their freedom taken away by armed thugs. I guess anything but the status quo is extreme to this feeble-minded &*$&*%^.Nothing pisses me off more than those paralyzed by incrementalism - along with status quo-ism, the twin pillars of government incompetence.Can you imagine if the business world worked this way? What if the CEO of Microsoft said "Uh, greetings shareholders, we've had this huge product line that's been losing tons of money for last 30 years, and shows no signs whatsoever of ever becoming profitable. But DON"T WORRY! We're not going to do anything EXTREME! We're going to increase spending on it another 5-10% and make some really good speeches to make everyone feel better!"No, of course bad programs are jettisoned almost immediately in any company.Maybe we should have the feds make a statement, punctuated with handcuffs, the next time Ms. Saunders has a glass of wine in public. Or, since she's SO compassionate for the poor, exploited, girlfriends of drug kingpins, maybe she'd like to sit in jail for 5 years on a mandatory minimum the next time she picks up a six-pack for her boyfriend."He who will not reason is a bigot; he who cannot is a fool; and he who dares not is a slave." -- William Drummond [ Post Comment ] Post Comment