decreases the intelligence of those opposed to its use....


Just because I am paranoid doesn't mean they are not after me….

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This case is just one of many that needs changing in our country. We all need to speak out when someone is wronged. So many people are too consumed with themselves that they don't think to care about anyone else. Well we need to start thinking about our neighbor, remember "We are our brother's keeper."

The United States has many many many laws purposely designed to target minorities and the poor. Prisons are privately owned and are run like a business which in tale need customers (prisoners) and there is no concern of how that get them. We Americans must stand up to this and the many other wrongs that are going on in this country and throughout the world. We must protest for change. I truly believe we need an entire new system of governing. A complete overhaul of our social, political and judicial systems would be a good start. To protest my views and thoughts about this matter, I have decided to vote neither Republican or Democrat. I will vote for MYSELF from this day on until there is CHANGE in our laws, primarily our entire system.

I would encourage all of you to wake up and understand that we are all the same. We are all one and we must come together with love and compassion and not be divided by those in power who wants us to bicker and fight amongst one another. Their fear is that we all will unite and demand change. Demand that the rich and wealthy share more of their money. Their biggest fear is that we no longer see color as a divider but instead as a uniter.

Let's give them their greatest fear and come together for the good of us all and change our present way of living. We can make life better for us all and especially the poorest. We can do this.... We must do this. We must change.


Please join me... I am seekinig volunteers to assist me in launching a new website by the name of "WeMustChange.org"

I need creative people, a web designer etc. I'm looking for a future staff of volunteers .....

I can be emailed at david@thinkverybig.com

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That's minimizing it for the sake of a story. I support decriminalizing the use of marijuana and hard drugs and making them available via prescription. But this was a drug pusher that would have easily sold to one of my grankids. Pushers who hook kids should go to jail. Sorry.

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Massachusetts researchers found that nonwhites were more likely to be charged with an offense that carries drug-free zone enhancement than whites engaged in similar conduct. Blacks and Hispanics account for just 20 percent of Massachusetts residents, but 80 percent of drug-free zone cases.

I'm sure the Massachusetts minority voters are happy that Sen. Kennedy is right out front protecting the rights of illegal immigrants, instead of shining a light on a policy that effects people who can actually vote for him today.

Fourteen states, including Massachusetts, do not allow felons to vote, but do reinstate voting rights immediately after their release from prison. Eight states permanently disenfranchise felons depending on the type of felony conviction. In four states — Alabama, Kentucky, Virginia and Florida — people with any felony conviction are barred for life from the polls, unless the government grants them individual rights through a petition process.

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You know something is wrong when an american soldier gets six months for using his dog to terrorize an iraqui prisoner; but someone else gets two years for selling a joint...

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"even if it means ruining a young man's life in the process."

Man, who would want such nonchalance with a statement that's so cold?

"mandatory minimums. These laws handcuff judges and force them to impose harsh sentences."

It also gets a group of people working the system that have no empathy for other people. Some reasonable, decent, and intellegent people will quit before they sell their souls to follow these laws. So we lose people that can make things better.

Reading Noam Chomsky's interview the other day mentioned that many of our policies are savage. I thought that word summed it up perfectly. This is savage.

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That's an outrage. That's entrapment, surely. If I were a member of that boy's family, I'd want someone's head on a stick. But this is what the cops count on, the family being too ashamed to protest the illegal charge and arrest of their drug-dealing teenage son so that they don't realize the bastards in blue have railroaded a sixteen-year-old boy into two years hard time.

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Anti drug laws have been on the books for nearly a century. Why has not the laws been changed.

People want tough drug control laws.

This is a sad fact. The people don't appreciate social freedom to live ones own life.

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I am from Springfield, Massachusetts which is about an hour's drive south of Pittsfield, in Berkshire County. Our laws are especially hard on those who sell drugs within 1,000 yards of a school. The pooh poohing of the school being a day care doesn't wash, as we know that many dealers are now hitting at the elementary school crowd, getting them hooked at a very early age.

Mitchell was selling to kids. In this case, the school was a daycare. However, the law is intended to act against those creeps who hang around on street corners near schools waiting for students to come and go. No one is saying Mitchell wasn't selling or sharing (that's how dealers start kids on the spiral downward). He shouldn't have been doing what he was doing, period and he certainly shouldn't have been doing it where he was doing it.

I, too, believe that, in the face of medical proof of the effectiveness of marijuana as an adjunct in treating certain diseases, our laws concerning use of this drug should be changed and adjusted. However, that hasn't happened yet.

In closing, I have two grandchildren, and if Mitchell had been caught near their elementary school or daycare, he would be dealing with me and not just the Commonwealth's legal system.

A creep is a creep!!!! I suggest that Mr Papa choose his wars more wisely.

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I am also for marijuana legalization. But there are so many things on the leftist agenda that can never hope to be implemented at this time, given the trend in alignment of the white majority with the GOP. Why? Because the left has alienated the white majority in this country. Don't you see that?

You can NEVER hope to implement any of the left agenda under the present circumstances. THe GOP is now the party of the white people. The LEFT made sure of that! The left itself has pushed the white majority away from it. I can only think that this was deliberate.

Don't you see that by having a left agenda all bound up in race and gender politics, all bound up in moral wedge issues, instead of bread and butter economics that would apply to EVERY American, the left has become a tool of the overclass used to split the white majority.

Until the Left realizes that any real American left can only be built around the white lower middle class, the largest single bloc in America, we will continue our slide into fascism. Our prisons will grower larger. Censorship will worsen. Mass immigration will expand. Tax burden will shift even more from the top to the middle. Our freedoms will constrict even more. The bloody war will expand into Iran and Venezuela and Colombia.

All because the Left is a golem, a husk, a tool of the overclass. A dead monster turned against all of us by overclass money. A fauxleft that eats away at the core of what social capital america has left.

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OK< tough sentence. wasted police time etc etc etc
the bottom line is what the kid did was ILLEGAL!

don't do the crime if you bitch about the time.

And who say's this was the "only time he accepted money"?
And who say's he had no idea there was a pre-school around the corner?

why should we take his word?

did he sell the weed? Yes
was it illegal Yes
did he know it was illegal? Yes.

end of story.

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WHy are we wasting time on the prosecution of this drug? I mean honestly, haven't enough resources, people, and money been spent trying to eradicate its use. Working in the public sector, it seems thatthe money and people used on this issue could be better spent alleviating/researching true problems in our society such as poverty, homelessness, education inequity/reform, etc. Maybe if we spent more of the money working towards sustainable solutions for these issues, maybe people wouldn't need toturn to drugs in the first place.

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Current drug laws are not harsh enough. Back in the 1950 era just the simple possession of a joint was enough to send a good student to prison for years. Frankly it worked great. Pot was rare as hens teeth. Once punishments became more liberal pot and other drugs ruined a whole lot of lives. Perhaps a return to the era when we would throw the key away on a 16 year old for minor possession is a better answer than anything we have today.

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Jailing people for any sale or use of this harmless-unless-grossly-overused substance is pure viciousness and utter stupidity.

I'm tired of this misuse of my tax dollars.

White sugar, grossly overused, is far more damaging to health than pot. Is anyone getting 2 years for the possession of small quantities of this dangerous substance -- sugar?

Alcohol is far more damaging to the lives and the health of abusers than pot. Yet, we learned the hard way that prohibition simply swelled the coffers of organized crime and encouraged widespread lawbreaking.

Exactly the same is true of marijuana and other drugs; we just haven't learned because most of the organized crime and the political and social problems associated with its huge power are playing out in Latin America, where the people are brown.

Hasn't anyone read about California's excellent results with their treatment-not-incarceration program? It's saving taxpayers millions in unnecessary prison costs while reducing drug use and allowing users to rebuild their lives, get jobs, take care of their kids and pay taxes.

We need to respond to all drug-related charges with forced treatment.

We need to provide drug treatment on demand to all who request it.

We need to stop all international interdiction efforts and allow Latin American countries to legalize and tax their entire cocaine and marijuana cultivation and processing industries.

We need to provide adequate programs for the rehabilitation and reintegration of ex-cons into productive lives.

We need to tax and sell marijuana in liquor stores.

We need to provide free or sliding-scale mental health treatment to ALL, including humane asylum facilities for those who need them.

We need to give family members the right, with professional supervision, to force family members into detox and mental health treatment without the involvement of the criminal justice system. Facilities for such treatment should be made affordable to all on a sliding-scale basis.

We need to provide, at government expense, prescription drug and talk therapy as necessary to all people with mental health issues, regardless of their financial circumstances. This should be part of single-payer national health insurance.

We need to put far more resources into Social Services and their attempts to intervene into dysfunctional familes and abused children. More children should be in foster care. More newborns should become wards of state and adopted into better circumstances immediately upon birth. The best interests of the child should far outweigh parental rights.

We need to put far more resources into the Office of the Public Defender, who should be equal in salary, power, office size, prestige and so on to the District Attorneys who so recklessly and wantonly destroy people's lives, frequently in an attempt to promote themselves into a conservative (viciousness-based) political career.

Our punitive, destructive approach to "the drug problem" is part and parcel of a refusal to face up to the fact that many using individuals are legitimately in despair for economic, social and psychological reasons which could be proactively addressed, mentally ill, being abused or, in the case of harmless-unless-grossly-misused substances like pot, simply exercising their legitimate rights to use natural substances as they, as independent adults, should be free to do without interference.

Jan VanDenBerg

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Since juries will believe whatever law enforcement tells them, planting evidence on those they arrest is as old as alcohol prohibition. Who's more corrupt?

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On one hand, pharmaceutical and food companies are busy getting rich pushing medications and drugs on children - from Paxil to Prozac to Ritalin and caffeine, children in the US are probably the most highly drugged up of any children on the planet.

ADD drugs (ritalin and relatives) are all amphetamine derivatives; kids learn pretty guick that they can grind them up and snort them for a more intense high. "Mood disorder' drugs like Paxil have been shown to lead to suicide in many cases, and furthermore these drugs are often pimped out by doctors with financial ties to the pharma companies.

Meanwhile, the 'Patriot Act' provisions that were supposed to be used to fight terrorism are now in full force for marijuana 'crimes'. Wiretapping, undercover setups - it seems that now anything goes. The main goal in many cases is just asset seizure, of which the police get a cut.

For a more complete expose on this issue, see Medicinal Marijuana and Big Pharma.

Cannabis is less dangerous then alcohol or tobacco. Two years in prison? How much time do rapists serve? Often less then that - six months or a year. We have a perverted criminal justice system - cannabis is not the problem here.

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If the place is anywhere near as lefty as the Repugs would have us believe it shouldn't be too hard to get this repealed. Any Bay State residents care to comment?

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Until the main supplier of serious drugs like heroin and cocaine that come into the USA is really dealt with, then kids as well as adults will get hooked on drugs.

Marijuana is a minor drug only illegal because it doesn't produce the amount of profits that the main supplier of these other, more dangerous, drugs want and need to continue the arming of death squads and paramilitary groups that create the civil wars throughout the world. It bits into their profit because it is truly a weed, so hence it is illegal but STILL very handy to throw "dangerous" youths into jail.

Poor youths and youths of color are looked upon as worthwhile only as cannon fonder in this militarist society. Either they go to war or become incarcerated after reaching a certain age in order to get them off the streets by the usage of these draconian drug laws. Can't have a French-style workers' revolution lead by youths in the streets here in America, can we now?

Do any US American citizen have the guts enough to confront the real problems and the real drug lord in order to keep their kids off drugs or out of jail? The CIA is the largest supplier of drugs in this country and around the world. I dare anyone to get the real info by reading a police detective's discovery of this fact: Michael Ruppert's "Crossing the Rubicon". I connected the rest of the dots by just watching the government and our society in action.

The ruling elite in this country fear the minorities in this country which together outnumber them; that is why these inhumane laws are made by their tool, the government (state and federal) to keep brown people of all shades down with fear and/or incarnated. The US of A has the largest prison population in the world (even more than China), the majority of which are Blacks and Hispanics. Has anybody really asked themselves "why?" instead of falling into stereotypes that reinforced racism?

Until the CIA, the 1% rich that own this country and its tool, the government, is dealt with, any drug laws made to "protect" our kids will instead backfire in our faces.

Time to connect the dots, fellow Americans, and to stop blaming each other who are the real victims of this so-called "drug war", another war that has gone on for the last 30 years and that will never end for a reason. It is a very useful tool of oppression on all fronts.

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As the U.S. goes militarily into the middle east touting freedom, we continue to have the largest prison population per capita in the world. A large portion of these prisoners are non-violent drug offenders (as the above article points out, this kid was causing no harm to anyone), incarcerated because they chose to endulge in a substance deemed "immoral" by an indoctrinated portion of our population. The hypocracy has got to stop! Drug prohibition evolved at the same time as alcohol prohibition and was initiated by the "Christian" Temperance Movement for persons deemed immoral because of using alcohol or a variety of drugs. Although alcohol prohibition was abandoned due to the corruption produced by, and the lack of enforcability of prohibition, drugs were not. Drug prohibition, perpetuated by government propaganda and falsehoods, has created the same problems as alcohol prohibition (corruption, organized crime, unenforcability) yet remain in effect with no serious challenge to it. Why? The answer is simple...the amount of money created by keeping by keeping these substances illegal. Don't think our government doesn't profit from illegal drugs? Guess again, and to see recent examples of how our government is involved, see: http://www.drugwar.com/howmoneyworks.shtm. One of the reasons the FBI whistleblower Sibel Edmonds was gagged from testifying to Congress by Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft was because of her knowledge of use of funds from illegal drugs to fund the wars in Afganistan and Iraq.

A lot of people believe in the War on Drugs because of the propaganda the government provides them. If these folks couuld just be educated about the truth (and all aspects of the truth) about drugs (including alcohol and tobacco), I think the fight to stop this insane war would be easier going. A lot of people suffer because of this senseless war, not just recreational users, but also chronic pain patients, cancer patients, glacoma sufferers, the list goes on.

To the people that read this website, if you are one of the misinformed supporters of the war on drugs, I urge you to learn more about what you are fighting and base your decisions on YOUR research, not what your "trustworthy" government tells you, and look at your own behavior and see if you are perfect enough to be deciding what others should be doing with their lives. Finally, live and let live.

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What comes from the earth is the greatest worth. Marijuana is a blessing and not a curse.

When I was about 8 years-old my father told me his brother had something called Hodgkin's disease. Acutally he had had it over many years but it had gone into remission. Unfortunately it had returned and with a vengeance; it didn't look like he was going to make it. He was 33 - my age. He tried everything from powerful opiates to alcohol and nothing relieved the physical and emotional pain of chemotherapy like Marijuana. My uncle lived in Hawaii, and was hospiced in a hospital which was very progressive for that time and I thank god every day that they permitted my father to bring it [grass] back to his room to smoke. They both smoked together and shared precious few happy moments before my uncle finally succumbed to the ravages of the disease. He was 6 feet tall and weighed 190 pounds healthy and died weighing just over 110 lbs. All forms of cancer and their treatments are a bitch but I thank god every day that that man we all loved didn't have to suffer more than necessary before passing thanks to nature's blessing.

If you don't like my fire then don't come around cuz I'm gonna burn one down. . . If everyone could just mind their own fucking business, from abortion to drugs to sexual preferences, and worry about their own nasty little habits like judging others. Maybe grandma up there should be more concerned about the new video game her grandson is playing calle BLOODY RAPE ORGY SLAUGHTER on his Playstation. In fact maybe Junior would be better off smoking a little herb and going outdoors so he can feel the sun on his face and experience the wonders of god's creation, not Sony's or Microsoft's.

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A teenage boy gets 2 years for a joint (entrapment no less) and our shit-for-brains president can be a draft dodging COKE SNIFFING, ALCOHOLIC who was basically AWOL during his Air National Guard service and later starts one, and soon to be 2 wars in the Middle East. Wow something is really wrong with that picture!!

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...Considering that the Easter season featured at one time in history, in Scotland, "Carling Sunday," in which "carlings" (hemp-plant sprouts) were consumed as part of a seasonal ritual during a time when plants (especially medicinal herbs) were honored.

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Two points White Collar Crimes impact vs one joint--and I don't even smoke cigs!
Other point: US citizens prosecuted for one joint while ILLEGALS violate our laws in every breathe they take--what is going on here? Why the double standards for NUMBERS?
(Ex) frightening, a l9-yr old arrested for presenting a copy of Proof of Insurance. The date had been changed to make it current when it had expired.
Results: the last semester high schooler who just wanted to get his old clunker to auto shop was jailed: not once but twice.
First prosecution for misdemeanor, 2nd for FELONY or 20 years in Jail. Charges: TAMPERING WITH GOV DOCUMENT
How many illegals do that?
Why are they being rewarded with citizenship?
Why was he jailed twice: then forced to give DNA sample?
He did not benefit!
Is this the way our nation is going: US citizens spyed upon, prosecuted for denouncing a lyeing President and administration who would send our sends to die on foreign soil as prior generations have around the world for OPEN BORDERS USA?
HS Band, Choic, Athletes DRUG TESTED: why not Congress or Judges?
It can ONLY become more RESTRICTIVE for generational citizens.
Youth at a mall congregate and are told to break it up.
YET MILLIONs wave foreign flags telling us "you stole our land!" SO we should give back the Louisiana Purchase to the French.
Why don't we ALL give back ALL land to the animals--at least they don't dump, degredate and destroy!
STOPUSAGiveaway@Care2.com
One Nation Under G O D

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Americans have very short attention spans. That said, few seem to remember that Ollie North was the tool for The Reagan/ Bush crack cocaine epidemic. Their Guns For Drugs scheme devastated the Black community for years. Of course Blacks have had to bear the blame for that as well. Yes after they introduced this insidious drug came the mandatory drug sentencing laws. It must be nice not to have to be bothered with remembering where the root of this tree is buried:

Senator John Kerry's 1988 U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations report on Contra-drug links concluded that "senior U.S. policy makers were not immune to the idea that drug money was a perfect solution to the Contras' funding problems." [2] According to the National Security Archive, Oliver North had been in contact with Manuel Noriega, Panama's drug-lord.

The Reagan administration's support for the Contras continued to stir controversy well into the 1990s. In August 1996, San Jose Mercury News reporter Gary Webb published a series titled Dark Alliance, linking the origins of crack cocaine in California to the contras. Freedom of Information Act inquiries by the National Security Archive and other investigators unearthed a number of documents showing that White House officials, including Oliver North, knew about and supported using money raised via drug trafficking to fund the contras. Sen. John Kerry's report in 1988 led to the same conclusions, however, major media outlets and the Justice Department denied the allegations.
Contras

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that way they can't organize or vote against the corporocracy.

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My mother vehemently opposes the great scourge of marijuana and other illegal drugs. She supports these insane laws even after her only son was ensnared by them and sentenced to fifteen years in the slammer for possession in Alabama.*

We've has numerous discussions in which I've tried to illuminate how insane these laws are; yet she would never budge. One must obey the law, according to her, no matter how crazed it may be. The law is the law!

You can imagine my delight when she committed a drug felony in Japan. See, we were standing on a street corner in Tokyo and she had a miserable sinus headache. She asked me if I had any Sudafed and I said I did. Now, as we both knew, Sudafed is an illegal substance in Japan. It's their way of controlling meth production.

I couldn't help gloating to her as I passed the banned substance over to her. Was she aware she was commiting a crime at this moment? And did she know we could be imprisoned for years for this? Me for smuggling and her for ingesting it?

"T