|
||
25 Years In Prison For Pot? Congressman's Proposal Is Just Plain Dumb
They say that every action spurs an opposite reaction. That certainly seems to be the case in Congress.
Just days after Massachusetts Democrat Rep. Barney Frank, along with 13 cosponsors, reintroduced HR 2835, the Medical Marijuana Patient Protection Act of 2009 in Congress, Republican Rep. Mark Kirk (Illinois) has called for federal legislation to sentence certain first-time marijuana offenders to up to 25 years in prison.
U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk to push tougher sentences for more-potent marijuana via The Chicago Tribune
U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk will call for legislation Monday that would toughen drug-trafficking laws regarding a highly potent form of marijuana, with penalties of up to 25 years in prison for a first-time offense.The law would target offenders who sell or distribute marijuana that has a THC content exceeding 15 percent.
... Drug dealers are increasingly cross-breeding plants to produce high-potency variants of marijuana, which are called "kush" in street slang when they have 20 percent THC, Lake County Sheriff Mark Curran said. "When you amplify the strength of it, you are increasing the harm to the system," said Curran, who supports the legislation, which would amend a federal law. "They are more dangerous behind the wheel of a vehicle. It's not a good idea to have people that messed up."
... The Republican North Shore lawmaker said he plans to release more information during a news conference in Chicago on Monday, where he will be joined by representatives from the Lake County Sheriff's Department, the Lake County Metropolitan Enforcement Group and Waukegan Police Department.
Okay, where to begin? Well, we can start with U.S. Representative Mark Kirk. According to the Congressman's website, Rep. Kirk is "pro-personal responsibility." Unless, of course, we're talking about allowing responsible adults (or patients) the choice to relax (or medicate) in the privacy of their own homes with a substance that is objectively safer than alcohol (or most prescription pharmaceuticals). Then, naturally, all bets are off.
Representative Kirk's website also alleges that the five-time-elected Congressman is "pro-science." Unless, of course, we're talking about cannabis -- in which case he is actually "pro-ideology" and "anti-science." After all, if Rep. Kirk was truly interested in the science of cannabis he would already know that:
1) According to a 2008 review (see page 12) of marijuana potency by the University of Mississippi, the average THC in domestically grown marijuana -- which comprises the bulk of the U.S. market -- is less than five percent, a figure that's remained unchanged for nearly a decade.
2) THC -- regardless of potency -- is virtually non-toxic to healthy cells or organs, and is incapable of causing a fatal overdose. Currently, doctors may legally prescribe a FDA-approved pill that contains 100 percent THC, and curiously, nobody among Rep. Kirk's staff or at the Lake County Sheriff's office office seems to be overly concerned about its potential health effects.
3) Survey data gleaned from cannabis consumers in the Netherlands -- where users may legally purchase pot of known quality -- indicates that most cannabis consumers prefer less potent pot, just as the majority of those who drink alcohol prefer beer or wine rather than 190 proof Everclear or Bacardi 151. When consumers encounter unusually strong varieties of marijuana, they adjust their use accordingly and smoke less.
Of course, if Rep. Kirk (write him here!) was really concerned about potential risks posed by supposedly stronger marijuana, he would support regulating the sale of drug (versus jailing first-time pot sellers for a quarter of a century) so that its potency would be consistent and this information would be publicly displayed to the consumer. This same advice applies to the members of the Lake County Sheriff's Department and the Waukegan Police Department -- who claim "we don't make the laws; we just enforce them" -- yet seem to have no problem whatsoever lobbying for increased federal pot penalties while on company time.
Fortunately, the likelihood is that Rep. Kirk's proposed legislation will be all bark and no bite. One, I suspect that few if any of Rep. Kirk's colleagues in Congress will even consider supporting such an asinine measure. Two, even if such legislation were to become law (and it won't) -- who would test each and every seized marijuana sample for THC potency and who would pay for it? Currently, only the University of Mississippi engages in such potency testing, which is highly expensive and requires the use of a gas chromatography mass spectrometer device. In short, it appears that the misguided Congressman from Illinois is simply trying to make headlines.
One can't blame him for trying. After all, across the pond, unsubstantiated claims regarding the dangers of often-talked-about-but-never-actually-defined supposedly "lethal" 'skunk' weed caused a national frenzy and resulted in Parliament hastily deciding to reclassify pot possession offenses from a verbal warning to up to five years in jail. Never mind that, under Britain's short-lived experiment with decriminalization, marijuana potency actually fell -- as did the number of adolescents using the drug.
Of course, as the latest actions of the so-called "pro-science, pro-personal liberty" Congressman show, facts play virtually no role in political drug policy debate, and ignorance hardly disqualifies someone from holding elected office.
Paul Armentano is the deputy director of NORML (the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws), and is the co-author of the book Marijuana Is Safer: So Why Are We Driving People to Drink (2009, Chelsea Green).
Loading comments…
Want to reply to a comment? Hint: Click "Reply" at the bottom of the comment; after being approved your comment will appear directly underneath the comment you replied to
Leaglize pot. Let the government be in charge of the huge pot farms. The unemploymnet office could put the unemployed to work cultivating the pot. Next the government could use the revenue they make from selling the pot to pay down the massive debt the last administration left us with. In addition, imagine the amount of money we could save by not locking people up for 25 years for pot offenses. It seems so simple.
We legalize pot and request Barnie Frank for some stimulus funding to grow pot in our back yard.
The first lady has started a vegetable garden. She start some herb garden and grow pot. We can then serve it to the foreign dignitaries.
Imagine how we can solve Israel and Palestinian problem if we have both the leader smoking pot.
Please send your request to our senators to federally legalize pot
I completely agree that 1) the legalization of marijuana is a necessary and just thing and that 2) whoever thinks putting someone away for 25 years for any aspect of marijuana use or cultivation, or what have you, is insane in the definition of the modern first world.
However, I notice some people below jumping on the "GOP" and the "neoconmen", etc. A comment: It's time for liberals to step up and have the brass to do something about this while they can. If it's just the Right keeping this from happening, now's the time. Hell, shut down the government agencies involved with attempting to enforce anti-marijuana laws, tax it, and pay off a good portion of the extreme debt we all find ourselves in :)
ElQuesoSabio says "It's time for liberals to step up and have the brass to do something." Oh my, more references to male anatomy. I suppose since you think SoS is sufficiently equipped, you will want her to take the lead to legalize marijuana? Is it sexist to say women must "have the brass"?
Rep. Kirk is a fool. He's probably invested in the privatized prison sentence. I have no idea why anyone would elect an official to wage a war against law abiding tax paying citizens.
In Massachusetts ,the people voted overwhelmingly to legalize herb. and then the pols started screaming about the need to block it from becoming law.I do not indulge ,but really these officials need to get a life and stop dreaming of revenues and locking people up.
The situation is... sad. We really have people like that making decisions? The faith I hold for this country, well, it's going down... exponentially.
He prolly got beat up by a hippy once. He must have 'issues'....,
surely!
Beam him up, Scotty.
Kirk should get 25 years for possesing such a high concentraiton of stupidity.
no kidding!
Pretty soon our whole economy will be based on locking up half the population and paying the other half to watch them.
It's a profit driven business. Gotta keep the customers somehow.
Wouldn't you know? He has no e-mail site so I called his DC number and told them that he's has no idea what he is talking about.
Kirk seems determined to prove that old Wildean wisdom that even bad publicity is good publicity. Unfortunately, he's turned himself into the town fool in the process.
Gimme a break U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk!!! Why don't you do something more important with your time than trying to find more excuses to penalize marijuana users. You say that you are going to enforce legislation to give Traffickers 25 years as a first offense which is stupid. You need to be more focus on important issues like Drinking and Driving and more serious crimes that hurt people. Medicinal Marijuana, no matter the THC level is safe as long as it is consumed in your private place of residence.
There are already too many people in jail serving time that didn't fit the crime because of the fear involved in writing the laws concerning marijuana. It's time that we stopped letting fear rule our actions and common sense write our laws. We need to decriminalize marijuana so that no one ever goes to jail again.
I hope this idiot mark kirk has a son who gets caught smoking a joint and then see if he thinks 25 years in prison is the right move. is this the leadership we have in this country.??? I can do better just pickin someone off the street!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You must be logged in to comment. Log in or connect with
