cannabisnews.com: Reformed Drug Offenders to Ask Bush for Pardons 





Reformed Drug Offenders to Ask Bush for Pardons 
Posted by FoM on September 27, 1999 at 08:01:18 PT
By The Associated Press 
Source: Star-Telegram
HOUSTONRepublican presidential front-runner George W. Bush, dogged by questions about illegal drug use, has admitted that he made "mistakes" in his youth. Now some reformed drug offenders plan to ask the Texas governor for a pardon. 
Roseanna Ruiz, 43, a twice-convicted drug felon who is now a Houston honor student and prison drug counselor, and Randall Mason, a Dallas-area electrician who spent 18 months behind bars for marijuana offenses, will petition Bush on Monday to review their cases and grant formal pardons, said G. Alan Robison, executive director of the Drug Policy Forum of Texas.Robison, a professor of pharmacology at the University of Texas Medical School in Houston, will submit a letter to Bush asking that he do the same for thousands of people incarcerated in Texas for similar, nonviolent drug offenses."It's a hell of a thing to have a felony on your record," Robison said Sunday. "And many of these people are guilty of exactly the same thing you and I and everybody know Gov. George W. Bush did as a kid, even if he won't admit it."Questions about past drug use have hounded Bush, despite his repeated refusals to discuss the subject. Last month, when pressed he said he had not used illegal drugs in the past 25 years.Bush has acknowledged that at one time he drank heavily and that he made "mistakes" in his youth. No evidence or even credible allegation has been made that he ever used cocaine or any other illegal drug.Bush's tough stance against drug offenses has magnified the issue.In 1994, Bush campaigned against a law that provided automatic probation for some first-time drug offenders. The Legislature repealed the law in 1995, allowing judges to sentence first-time offenders to as long as two years in state jail.And since Bush has been governor, the state's prison drug treatment program has been reduced to 5,300 beds, fewer than half of the 14,000 envisioned by former Gov. Ann Richards, the Houston Chronicle reported. A prison spokesman said the reason was lack of funding by the Legislature."Governor Bush believes there must be consequences for breaking the law," campaign spokesman Scott McClellan said.McClellan told the Houston Chronicle Bush would not comment on pardon requests until the cases were formally presented.Besides Ms. Ruiz and Mason, family members of some drug offenders now incarcerated may petition Bush for pardons Monday. Advocates of drug law changes are planning a vigil outside the Governor's Mansion.Ms. Ruiz served more than four years in prison in the early 1990s after convictions for illegal possession of a prescription drug and narcotics paraphernalia.Now an honor student at the University of Houston-Downtown, the criminal justice major counsels inmates at the prison system's Jester 1 Unit at Richmond and the nearby Carol S. Vance Unit.With her parole completed and five drug-free years behind her, Ms. Ruiz believes she deserves a pardon."I feel like I've earned it," she told the newspaper. "I've worked real hard to turn my life around. And I've tried to give those inmates a message of hope."Distributed by The Associated Press (AP) Updated: Monday, Sep. 27, 1999 at 00:38 CDT George W., Cocaine and Prisons - 9/23/99http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread2989.shtml
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Comment #5 posted by JJL on May 07, 2001 at 07:33:32 PT:
A comment on the cmment posted on Sep 27,1999
I think you guys are assholes for talking about republicans that way. You godamn hippie democrats have no balls. At least Bush joined the military and didn't run with his tail between his legs to Canada like Clinton.
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Comment #4 posted by lilly on April 04, 2001 at 10:00:06 PT:
Help with drug addiction
I think one probably gets the time more for the stealing. People can be sent to rehabiliton for their addictions over and over, just like Robert Downey Jr, and it does no good, unless the person is willing to release themselves to God, and wants to make a change on the inside. However, if that is not the case; addiction, when a person is crazed will lead to something else. Lots of time murder, and in your love one's case, the beginning stage of theft. Your friends rehabilition will only start with a change of his spirit man on the inside. That he can get even while he is behind bars. Not just rehabilition is needed, the person needs regeneration, a change of heart. There is lots of help for him even while he is in prison. Why doesn't he ask for this help. You can't save him, he has to want not to be lost in that drug world himself.  
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Comment #3 posted by edwin Pearson on February 08, 2001 at 09:56:34 PT:
Pardons
Why is it that no one has verified that George W. ush was given a pardon for his convictions by his father George Bush while he was President.. That is the reason he efuses to discuss it.
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Comment #2 posted by stephanie on June 07, 2000 at 21:26:59 PT:
drug offenders in prison
My fiance in prison right now for theft and drug charges all steming from his addiction. I beleive that prison is not the answer. I beleive that rehabilition would be much more productive. Paying for your crime is one thing, but being in prison does not help the source of the problem. How can I get involved in trying to get him in some type of rehab hospital instead of jail time? If he has any hope of reforming his life when his sentence is over, he needs help with the source of the problem (drug addiction). The prison time is not going to stop him from getting out and going back to the same old thing. This is not helping him get his life together, which is what he needs. Please help.
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Comment #1 posted by rainbow on September 27, 1999 at 19:09:53 PT:
Bush is republican
I think this is great but I bet that Bush will not be able to pardon anyone. He is a puppet and the string holders will not allow him to pardon anyone. There is no money in it and the prison industry will go down hard. No republicans are not people likers, they are power mongers who have a mean streak. They will hurt many more unless the people of the USA vote them out.Cannabis Tea anyone?Rainbow
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