There was a lot of movement in Albany last week and yesterday about the Rockefeller Drug Laws. The ACLU of NY released a major report, strongly stating that the laws have been disastrous for New York State, as they have not improved public safety or stopped people from using drugs. The report even calls the laws, "New York's Jim Crow Laws," some pretty tough words. The ACLU recommends four things, of which I agree on all four:
The word coming out of the governor's camp was that he was going to release a bill on Friday that would be a "compromise" between what the Assembly passed and what the Senate wants. However, it never came. I realized that it is a lot safer, politically, for the governor to not release a bill, and rather create the "compromise" with both sides of government in private. So, just like what we did in 2003, I urge all three parties to be straight with the people of New York. There have been rumors floating around about what is inside the Governor's bill, a few things of which I am not too happy about. The first thing I heard is that he will keep mandatory minimum sentences for second time offenders. I urge him to re-consider this position, and give full judicial discretion for all drug-related crimes, especially non-violent ones. Also, they are saying that there is not retroactivity in the Governor's bill, meaning that those who were convicted under these harsh sentences in the past, will not be re-sentenced. I think this is wrong, and to use the argument that that the state can't afford to do this is not being honest with the people of New York. To continue with the way we have been going will cost the taxpayers $600 million dollars to incarcerate drug-offenders in New York in 2009 alone. We will save hundreds of millions of dollars if we fix this. And we need to fix this now.
Governor Paterson, Senate Leader Malcolm Smith and Assembly Leader Sheldon Silver -- fix these laws and fix them now. The people of New York are behind you in repealing the Rockefeller Drug Laws, so make it happen. And you should remember that the nation is watching us. The nation is watching to see if we will do the right thing in New York. And if we do the right thing, the nation will follow in our footsteps, and for once, maybe just once, we can begin to end a "war" in this country that went terribly wrong.
including smoking weed, doing drugs and drinking alcohol. Though as a tax
payer I do not want to pay for the potential mistakes of those people.
The side effects of using and abusing drugs and drinking alcohol are
reported in many studies, as to thier negative effects on health and safety.
The people who are indulging in these vices are just like addicted cigarett
smokers, they do not see how bad was their addiction until they quit.
So if you want to use drugs, smoke weed and be a drunk, let us take you
to a deserted island where you can indulge in your vices and live among
people who are like you. We humans living in a civilized society have given up
on those urges and hence are not willing to be threatened by your kind.
I think this is fair enough.
Those people want to have cake and eat it to...
Studies show that everything can be abused, does that mean we prohibit everything? Of course not.
What about people that use responsibly? Ship em off? Who decides, you?
I am sorry, I thought this was the land of the free.
Freedom if there is such a thing comes with great Responsibility...
It is time to look back at the movie Escape from NewYork and start thinking
about building cities where " wanna be free " people who are not responsible can
live " freely " or in chaos in those cities without me having to pay for their follies...
Here is something for you...Human beings will never be free...they are not free
of hunger, they are not free from gravity, etc...
Freedom is a very misunderstood concept, just like free will...
Pretty sad in this day and age when the last resort for physicians is a natural remedy. Maybe one day you will have to take 20 different medications, only to find the only one that works is the one that could put you in prison, and cannot get from the pharmacy.
Your opinion and intent here is noticeably courageous. You are asking for something that simply cannot and should not be done in America. I agree with your opinion concerning the sentencing guide lines.
State and federal mandatory drug sentencing guide lines are in fact unconstitutional from my perspective. I totally agree that some laws are a waste and have failed, but I do not agree with simply opening up the jail cells and letting people out who have proven not to have the social skill-sets to be productive members of their perspective communities.
You focus your discussion on relief for the offender, in which I cannot support. We make choices; these choices may be the right ones or the wrong ones; however they are decisions.
You ask for treatment, or if you will some type of assistance for the offender. I totally agree for those citizens who have become addicts. Not for those who break the laws simply because they want to make some money.
I agree with you on the discussion of possibly taking a good look at those who are now incarcerated for sentencing reduction, but with a fine tooth and comb. Well maybe for small amounts of drugs. However, until our country fights consumption we will be confronting this problem forever!
Overall my friend I do neither support legalizing narcotics nor giving trafficker a green light to continue their assault on our communities and country, regardless of the color of skin and/or race.
A few years ago I tried being a "drug dealer" to cover some medical expenses. Didn't work: I'm a lousy drug dealer. (I couldn't seem to remember to let "everyone" know I had product available...) I was in a position where I took the risk feeling that if my activities got me in trouble, I might have to euthanize myself, to avoid jail, in my unhealthy condition. But that's how desperate my need was: I was too ill to work and I needed money to pay for being ill. And there's a HUGE functioning black market for medicines of various descriptions - which I'd already been forced to be a part of, on account of my illness, and the same drug laws. And weed is absolutely irreducibly harmless.
You tell me: was it wrong, for me to try to sell weed, to pay for the overpriced pharmaceuticals and treatments I needed? Was that an "assault on our communities and country"?
The imprisonment of what could be productive, tax paying members of society for periods of time out of proportion to the actual "crime" does nothing but destroy families and communities. This is an issue that must be addressed. The stockpiling of what could be nonviolent offenders and using their numbers to keep otherwise bankrupt municipalities from turning into ghost towns is
the worse kind of exploitation. Perhaps you should start thinking "human beings" and know their stories before you hang up on terms like "social skill-sets".
I agree that the $600m tab to incarcerate drug offenders in NY state for 2009 is a waste of money. But don't expect Governor David Paterson to show any backbone on the matter, I have found him to be a follower and not a leader. As aside - Paterson had a chance to appoint Congresswoman Yvette Clarke to the U S Senate after Sen Hillary Clinton resigned. The lightweight politician could have made history by appointing the first Black person from New York to the U S Senate. Paterson in his limited wisdom decided to appoint a little know freshman Congresswoman from Upstate NY to the powerful seat. Thus, failing to make history by bringing NY out of the racial Dark Ages in a political sense , while then President-elect Barack Obama had revolutionized American politics. A lost opportunity of monumential purportions. I hope the drug laws are modified as the ACLU recommended, I have grave doubts that Governor Paterson has the courage to take the political risk.
America needs industry to get us back to being a productive society. Cannabis hemp could be used to generate many new products and bring back jobs to America. Cannabis is a renewable plant, which can grow in almost any climate. It is 100% biodegradable and removes the most toxins from our air. Synthetics have taken over in America, due to the elimination of a plant?
Most people realize the war on cannabis is wrong. It people would hear historical facts, their views of cannabis would change. Unfortunately, when the laws were changed, the Emperor really was wearing no clothes and no one had the courage to tell him.
Call the man! Demand change!
The Prison Industrial Industry has done more damage to our society than drug use ever could. Their lobbyists are writing new "crimes" into law every year in every state and at the Federal level...How conveeeenient.