.
Now that he is President, it is time for all persons convicted of minor marijuana infractions to be released and pardoned.
.
.
I’ve never used it, and I think it’s unwise for anyone who is or ever will be a parent to get high.
Nonetheless, it is way disproportionate to imprison a person for that very petty offense.
.
You must be logged in to post a comment.
BY: JohnNorthofDenver
IN: I’m Gabe Evans, and This is the Worst Ad You’ve Seen in Years
BY: Conserv. Head Banger
IN: I’m Gabe Evans, and This is the Worst Ad You’ve Seen in Years
BY: davebarnes
IN: Weekend Open Thread
BY: harrydoby
IN: Get More Smarter on Friday (Oct. 4)
BY: MichaelBowman
IN: Weekend Open Thread
BY: Gilpin Guy
IN: Weekend Open Thread
BY: JohnNorthofDenver
IN: Friday Open Thread
BY: spaceman2021
IN: I’m Gabe Evans, and This is the Worst Ad You’ve Seen in Years
BY: 2Jung2Die
IN: Friday Open Thread
BY: psyclone
IN: BREAKING: Former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters Gets 9 Years
Subscribe to our monthly newsletter to stay in the loop with regular updates!
punishable by ticket?
Maybe a stat on minor possessions (an ounce or two) that lead to jail time?
not federal. In some state’s minor possession is still a felony (‘zero tolerance’).
…how many people who were convicted only of minor MJ offenses are in jail and in need of pardons? prolly not many, but has anyone seen Michael Phelps lately?
I think the whole thing should be decriminalized and we treat it as a sickness. This is like locking people up for getting appendicities.
And with the state budget crunch – it would save us a boatload of desperately needed money.
any more than this fine beer I’m drinking.
Certainly decriminalization would help remove the criminal element from all drugs–and things like Meth addiction and the toxic spew that manufactures it needs to be dealt with, but treatment is a better option than prison for users.
Very few people are punished with imprisonment for minor marijuana possession in the federal system (or for that matter anywhere) for this offense. The percentage of prisoners in Colorado prisons for any marijuana offenses at all is about 1%, and most of those offenses are middling to serious drug dealing charges with quite large quantities involved.
The bigger federal disability, by far, is statutory. Many drug offenses, state or federal, disqualify you forever from eligiblity for federal higher education assistance.
Better to remove unreasonable collateral effects of drug convictions across the board, than to pardon people piecemeal.
.
Somehow, I had the impression that tens of thousands were jailed on minor drug charges.
Don’t know where I got that from, but I’m glad to be wrong about that.
While it may be obvious that presidential pardon power is limited to federal convictions, I failed to even consider that.
Can I crawl back under my rock now ?
.
The people in jail for minor pot possession is probably nil.
Let’s end the War on Drugs, the War on Terror, and all go home.
Project Censored called one of its least reported stories this year the consistent rise nationally in marijuana arrests over the past several years:
The City and County of Denver’s Marijuana Policy Review Panel has heard testimony that, despite Denver voters making possession of small amounts of marijuana the lowest law-enforcement priority, arrests have increased. As the New York Times reported from Denver:
There probably weren’t a lot of people in federal prisons for possession of small amounts of alcohol in the ’30s, as well. That still didn’t make alcohol prohibition a brilliant idea.
I supported 100, but SAFER, the people who wrote the measure, are not on the same planet as you or I. They shouldn’t have tried to force the police to rank it in priority, they should have pressed for full legalization (it’s already decriminalized.)
Of course, the fact of the matter is that we did vote to put this measure in place. It not only falls on the cops for continuing to arrest people, but on DA Mitch Morrisey for prosecuting the cases.