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Man Gets Life Sentence For 4th Pot Conviction

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Overzealous and uncalled for, but I don't have much sympathy for the guy. Anyone who offends 4 times for the same offense often deserves what's coming to them. The law is what it is. When you violate it you accept the consequences or don't get caught. You don't like it, we have processes for that. Given that not getting caught with weed is beyond easy, this guy is simply a dumbass.
 
Zebo said:
Insanity.
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Selling weed a fourth time knowing you could get life in prison? I agree.

actually, both sides in this matter are fvcking stupid. This guy obviously isn't fit to be a normal adult and has a learning disorder, and throwing the book at a guy for selling what should be a legal substance to begin with is also stupid.
 
DucatiMonster696 said:
Ummmmmmmm.......some of the most outspoken detractors of prop 9 in CA were actually locally licensed "medical marijuana distributors". So I think you need to re-evaluate that assumption of yours.

http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/politics/Medical-Marijuana-Advocates-103480664.html

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/inoakland/detail?entry_id=75992
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Oh ya right and put a number on these people how many? It makes real sense that pot suppliers would be against Ca home grown . I think you best rethink your reply it smacks of reverse racism. These guys wanted pot legeal more people buying. NO more over the border POT. Is what stopped ca, and its easy to understand who voted which way. Hell people around here grow pot openly I even have plants on the creek below the hill Legeally the states land 25' from shore . Even tho I own the land its not my land . and I am not required to maintain wild land.
 
Nemesis 1 said:
Oh ya right and put a number on these people how many? It makes real sense that pot suppliers would be against Ca home grown . I think you best rethink your reply it smacks of reverse racism. These guys wanted pot legeal more people buying. NO more over the border POT. Is what stopped ca, and its easy to understand who voted which way. Hell people around here grow pot openly I even have plants on the creek below the hill Legeally the states land 25' from shore . Even tho I own the land its not my land . and I am not required to maintain wild land.
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Medical marijuana distributors in Bay Area are tiny group of people who have basically a monopoly on "legal" pot. They rake in tons of money without much competition. They lobbied and voted against prop 9 using bogus and tenuous claims that legalizing pot in Ca would "harm medical marijuana patients ability to access pot". The reality is they have a racket to protect as the only group of individuals who locally can sell pot "legally" and its in their favor to have Ca abide by Federal regulations. If you think that federal regulations "protect" you then you are naive. Lots of federal regulations are created and supported by establish "big business" to block out any would be start up competition.
 
Ape said:
From the link:



Kind of says it all, no one was forcing the guy to break the law. While I agree life is insane he had to know going in what the consequences are. He is going to appeal so let's see what happens.
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And giving this incredibly dangerous criminal a one-year sentence wouldn't accomplish the same thing?

You're as brilliant as the people in charge of Louisiana.
 
Wreckem said:
He would if it was the third time he was busted for distribution of a controlled substance. CA is notorious for their three strike laws as well.
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And exactly WHY is marijuana a controlled substance?

If keeping MJ illegal is justified on that basis that government must protect the American public from an allegedly dangerous substance - when in fact it kills no one each year and causes addition in very few - then why is it totally legal to distribute, sell, and use two highly addictive, dangerous substances (alcohol and tobacco) that kill hundreds of thousands of Americans each year?
 
shira said:
And exactly WHY is marijuana a controlled substance?

If keeping MJ illegal is justified on that basis that government must protect the American public from an allegedly dangerous substance - when in fact it kills no one each year and causes addition in very few - then why is it totally legal to distribute, sell, and use two highly addictive, dangerous substances (alcohol and tobacco) that kill hundreds of thousands of Americans each year?
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Whiskey Rebellion, and this country was founded on growing tobacco.

Anyone that tries to say otherwise is a fool.
 
shira said:
And exactly WHY is marijuana a controlled substance?
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http://www.lewrockwell.com/spl2/reason-hemp-is-illegal.html

THE CONSPIRACY

William Randolph Hearst (Citizen Kane) and the Hearst Paper Manufacturing Division of Kimberly Clark owned vast acreage of timberlands. The Hearst Company supplied most paper products. Patty Hearst’s grandfather, a destroyer of nature for his own personal profit, stood to lose billions because of hemp.

In 1937, DuPont patented the processes to make plastics from oil and coal. DuPont’s Annual Report urged stockholders to invest in its new petrochemical division. Synthetics such as plastics, cellophane, celluloid, methanol, nylon, rayon, Dacron, etc., could now be made from oil. Natural hemp industrialization would have ruined over 80% of DuPont’s business.

Andrew Mellon became Hoover’s Secretary of the Treasury and DuPont’s primary investor. He appointed his future nephew-in-law, Harry J.Anslinger, to head the Federal Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs.

Secret meetings were held by these financial tycoons. Hemp was declared dangerous and a threat to their billion-dollar enterprises. For their dynasties to remain intact, hemp had to go. These men took an obscure Mexican slang word: ‘marijuana’ and pushed it into the consciousness of America.
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shira said:
And exactly WHY is marijuana a controlled substance?
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Because when conservatives say they don't want big government they mean they don't anyone else's ideas about big government. My way or the highway asshole and that means a military equal to the next seven largest in the world combined, the world's largest prison population, high unemployment, your constitutional rights suspended indefinitely, perpetual war, a bankrupt economy, a bankrupt government, the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer.
 
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wuliheron said:
Because when conservatives say they don't want big government they mean they don't anyone else's ideas about big government. My way or the highway asshole and that means a military equal to the next seven largest in the world combined, the world's largest prison population, your constitutional rights suspended indefinitely, and bankrupt economy and government.
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/this

Most people have no clue what they want, so they try wanting everything. Wanting everything leads us to the crossroads we are at.
 
wuliheron said:
Because when conservatives say they don't want big government they mean they don't anyone else's ideas about big government. My way or the highway asshole and that means a military equal to the next seven largest in the world combined, the world's largest prison population, high unemployment, your constitutional rights suspended indefinitely, perpetual war, a bankrupt economy, a bankrupt government, the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer.
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So Obama and Eric Holder are conservatives now?

Obama's Sudden, Senseless Assault on Medical Marijuana:

When Attorney General Eric Holder announced in October 2009 that the Dept. of Justice would respect state medical marijuana laws, the nation breathed a collective sigh of relief. By that time, any lingering support for aggressive federal raids on medical marijuana providers had dwindled into invisibility. The American people wanted to see patients protected, and Obama's pledge to do so earned him nothing but praise from both the press and the public.

Unfortunately, recent months have brought about what can only be described as the rapid collapse of the Obama Administration's support for medical marijuana. Following dozens of aggressive DEA raids, along with some unusual IRS audits, the Dept. of Justice has now begun openly endeavoring to destroy carefully regulated state programs before they get off the ground:

OLYMPIA, Wash. -- Several states have started reassessing their medical marijuana laws after stern warnings from the federal government that everyone from licensed growers to regulators could be subjected to prosecution.

The ominous-sounding letters from U.S. attorneys in recent weeks have directly injected the federal government back into a debate that has for years been progressing at the state level. Warnings in Washington state led Gov. Chris Gregoire to veto a proposal that would have created licensed marijuana dispensaries.
--
Letters with various cautions have also gone to officials in California, Colorado, Montana and Rhode Island.
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It's a sweeping intervention that instantly divorces the Obama Administration from its stated policy of not focusing resources on individuals who are clearly compliant with state law. Unlike the numerous recent dispensary raids, which could theoretically result from competing interpretations of state law, this new incursion constitutes a direct threat of arrest against state employees acting in good faith to administer perfectly lawful state programs.
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dali71 said:
So Obama and Eric Holder are conservatives now?

Obama's Sudden, Senseless Assault on Medical Marijuana:
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Obama is just giving conservatives whatever he can to increase his chances of being elected. Hence, his sudden turnaround on issues like this that won't alienate his base. Perpetual war, another 4 years of suspended constitutional rights, and now going after a bunch of stupid pot heads. Gotta throw the dogs a bone once in awhile.
 
wuliheron said:
Obama is just giving conservatives whatever he can to increase his chances of being elected. Hence, his sudden turnaround on issues like this that won't alienate his base. Perpetual war, another 4 years of suspended constitutional rights, and now going after a bunch of stupid pot heads. Gotta throw the dogs a bone once in awhile.
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So you think that all conservatives are for the War on Drugs?
 
dali71 said:
So you think that all conservatives are for the War on Drugs?
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Nah, but pot is really a borderline case in the war on drugs with almost half the country in favor of legalization. The most die hard against legalization are senior citizens who are overwhelmingly conservative and one of the strongest voting blocks. That's who he needs to appeal to for reelection and cracking down on potheads is a no brainer. They're a small minority and it won't affect how most other people vote.

Note that Obama started out spouting all kinds of liberal nonsense to gain support of the Democratic party and has now moved towards a more centrist populist position as reelection approaches. Often making complete 180s on previous positions without any warning like any two-faced lawyer worth his salt. He's abandoned the far left and now its time to push as far right and look as tough as he can for the cameras.
 
dali71 said:
It won't come from this administration. Eric Holder is such a moron that he doesn't believe that ending the war on drugs would result in fewer police officers killed in the line of duty.
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You must be a young'en. From roughly 1968 until at least the election of Reagan rising crime was a major issue in the US and the GOP's very successful platform was that the Democrats were "soft on crime." Probably an even more effective platform than today's starve the beast one.

I'd love to see pot legalized-frankly I remain totally surprised that it didn't happen well before the turn of the century. But then again we still have a boatload of creationists around (which should have died out at least a century ago) so one cannot underestimate the intrasigence and illogicality of a large block of voters.

Someday pot will be legalized. I suspect it will be done like Nixon's trip to China-a startling move by a far right law and order President.

But given today's toxic political environment where truely critical issues move at a snails pace or not at all, and the President is under constant attack for moving too fast/not doing enough/being a socialist, secret radical muslim and/or the antichrist I can't really blame the White House for not giving much priority to this.

Back on point: life for pot (even intent to deal, which is strictly based on quanity caught with) when no prior jail time-Southern Justice at it's best.
 
Thump - Prison is the only social program the conservatives support and they say liberals “throw money at every problem” but they throw prison at every problem.
 
This guy is a loser with no respect for the law. Every time I see some statement like this is not a violent crime, I just want to shoot the person in the head. What about innocent children that get caught in the crossfire of the gangs that sell the drugs? Victimless crime my ass. His attitude is cause by lack of enforcement on the federal level. Every time the Feds fail to prosecute or allow the state to let people off with a misdemeanor for posession, they are sending the message that it is OK for people to do illegal drugs.

I think we need to go in the opposite direction and make possession of marijuana an automatic death sentence.
 
WhipperSnapper said:
It would help if taxpayers felt outrage. After all, they're going to pay the $30,000+/year needed to keep this guy behind bars for life. Is reducing the number of pot smokers in the state by 1 worth $30,000+/year?

This is another good example of America being a Nation of Morons.

Just another fine example of Big Government in the Bedroom.
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As long as we have privately owned ('for profit') prisons then we will ALWAYS have these ridiculous laws that jail innocent citizens.




People... Many of these laws have nothing at all to do with helping society, keeping 'bad guys' off the street, or keeping you safe. It's purely a profit center for a holding corp

So these people make sure their lobbyists inform our politicians of our "real needs"



Ugh. The system is so fscked up it really is beyond repair.
 
SpatiallyAware said:
As long as we have privately owned ('for profit') prisons then we will ALWAYS have these ridiculous laws that jail innocent citizens.




People... Many of these laws have nothing at all to do with helping society, keeping 'bad guys' off the street, or keeping you safe. It's purely a profit center for a holding corp

So these people make sure their lobbyists inform our politicians of our "real needs"



Ugh. The system is so fscked up it really is beyond repair.
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Do you have any proof to back up the claim that privately owned prisons influenced the creation of drug laws? Or are you just spouting bs?
 
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