55 years for selling mary jane!

[Whoop Harted]

Originally Posted by shazeep

pot is a miracle, and has been made anathema to us. Big Pharma simply cannot compete with it, the same way Bid Industry cannot compete with hemp. How hard it was for me to see. You don't have to get high on it--cannabidiol from hemp is legal in all 50 states. Billions of dollars were invested to sway our perceptions here.

Pot is a gateway to the spirit world, not a miracle. Kinda like peyote and other mind altering drugs.

The reason that the big pharma is after it is that they don't control the profits, not because they think it is wrong.

[shazeep]

hmm; seems like a stretch to compare the effects of pot with peyote; especially in their natural state? Granted, we cultivate pot into a fairly strong drug, but it isn't that way naturally. And even then one would be hard pressed to compare it to peyote, don't you think? Pot, and hemp, are loaded with omega3; they are high in protein. The Constitution was written on hemp. Henry Ford built a car made from hemp, and powered by hemp. It used to be required (of Colonial landowners) to grow hemp. Nixon inadvertently demonstrated that pot shrinks brain tumors. oops.

Also, I'm finding that while the "gateway" argument was certainly true when i was young, this does not seem to be near as true now. Again, i do not advocate smoking pot; especially for those younger than their mid to late 20s, which is when our prefrontal lobes finish developing. While lung cancer increases significantly in those who smoke both pot and cigarettes, this is not true for those who smoke only pot ("National Cancer Institute" link; all links included for transparency)
https://www.google.com/webhp?sourcei...cancer&es_th=1
while chronic pot smoking has been found to decrease prefrontal lobe mass slightly--and ps it is interesting to note that the prefrontals are the seat of our "will," so i'm not convinced a slight decrease there is all bad--it has also been proven to increase neural connections drastically.

So, can pot be abused? Can it be smoking you, as you are smoking it? You bet.
However, are there possibly benefits that have been concealed from us, and have we been lied to and manipulated for someone's evil agenda? No question, imo.

I'd hang out with George Washington and smoke hemp on his front porch anytime!

[aegsm76]

Originally Posted by Walks_in_islam

Happy birthday president Reagan

You must be Democrat, not Muslim.
They are the ones that stick to their talking points after they have been proven wrong!

[Pressing-On]

Originally Posted by Jermyn Davidson

“If he had been an aircraft hijacker, he would have gotten 24 years in prison. If he’s been a terrorist, he would have gotten 20 years in prison. If he was a child rapist, he would have gotten 11 years in prison. And now I’m supposed to give him a 55-year sentence? I mean, that’s just not right...”

said the Federal judge that put a 24 year old man to jail for a 55 year sentence without the possibility of parole.

Here's the story.
https://gma.yahoo.com/former-federal...opstories.html


The judge publicly regrets his decision and discusses it publicly with a reporter. What do you think? Should this fellow be in jail for the vast majority of his life simply because he sold marijuana?

Fortunately, Rand Paul and Cory Booker are working on a sentencing reform bill. I know it's too late to correct time for some, but it could have an early release for many. It's called the Redeem Act.

"The REDEEM Act proposal would encourage states to raise the age of criminal responsibly to 18 years of age; expunge or seal the records of juveniles who commit non-violent crimes before they turn 15; place limits on the solitary confinement of most juveniles; and establish a system to allow eligible nonviolent criminals to petition a court to ask that their criminal records be sealed. Sealing the records would keep them out of FBI background checks requested by employers and likely make it easier for those former offenders to secure a job."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/...ng-reform-bill

S.2567 - REDEEM Act113th Congress (2013-2014)
https://www.congress.gov/bill/113th-...nate-bill/2567

[Walks_in_islam]

Originally Posted by aegsm76

You must be Democrat, not Muslim.
They are the ones that stick to their talking points after they have been proven wrong!

I have never voted for a democrat. Except for John Breaux. Doesnt mean I am happy with the trickle down bubble paper economy and the corporate prison system we got sold.

[Pressing-On]

Originally Posted by Jermyn Davidson

“If he had been an aircraft hijacker, he would have gotten 24 years in prison. If he’s been a terrorist, he would have gotten 20 years in prison. If he was a child rapist, he would have gotten 11 years in prison. And now I’m supposed to give him a 55-year sentence? I mean, that’s just not right...”

said the Federal judge that put a 24 year old man to jail for a 55 year sentence without the possibility of parole.

Here's the story.
https://gma.yahoo.com/former-federal...opstories.html


The judge publicly regrets his decision and discusses it publicly with a reporter. What do you think? Should this fellow be in jail for the vast majority of his life simply because he sold marijuana?

From your link, which wouldn't open today.

That number, an increase from 24,000 prisoners in the 1980s, is often attributed to the mandatory minimum sentencing laws created during America’s war on drugs.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/0...n_6713568.html

I happened to run across this article by Jason Riley, WSJ. Totally great article to take the time and read!

Race Relations and Law Enforcement
Some insist that our jails and prisons are teeming with young black men due primarily to racist drug laws, but the reality is that the drug laws are neither racist nor driving the black incarceration rate. It’s worth remembering that the harsher penalties for crack cocaine offenses that were passed in the 1980s were supported by most of the Congressional Black Caucus, including Rep. Charles Rangel of Harlem, who at the time headed the House Select Committee on Narcotics Abuse and Control. Crack was destroying black communities and many black political leaders wanted dealers to face longer sentences. In other words, black legislators in Washington led the effort to impose tougher drug laws, a fact often forgotten by critics today.

http://imprimis.hillsdale.edu/race-r...w-enforcement/

[Fionn mac Cumh]

Originally Posted by good samaritan

i agree about the government, but i just lost a 43 year old cousin indirectly to c.o.p.d. From years tobacco use. Our lungs never were meant to be a chimney. 55yrs is crazy.

fixed

[Jermyn Davidson]

Originally Posted by Pressing-On

From your link, which wouldn't open today.


I happened to run across this article by Jason Riley, WSJ. Totally great article to take the time and read!

Race Relations and Law Enforcement
Some insist that our jails and prisons are teeming with young black men due primarily to racist drug laws, but the reality is that the drug laws are neither racist nor driving the black incarceration rate. It’s worth remembering that the harsher penalties for crack cocaine offenses that were passed in the 1980s were supported by most of the Congressional Black Caucus, including Rep. Charles Rangel of Harlem, who at the time headed the House Select Committee on Narcotics Abuse and Control. Crack was destroying black communities and many black political leaders wanted dealers to face longer sentences. In other words, black legislators in Washington led the effort to impose tougher drug laws, a fact often forgotten by critics today.

http://imprimis.hillsdale.edu/race-r...w-enforcement/

Pressing On,
The gentleman in question is not black and the drug in question is not crack.

[Jermyn Davidson]

Originally Posted by Pressing-On

Fortunately, Rand Paul and Cory Booker are working on a sentencing reform bill. I know it's too late to correct time for some, but it could have an early release for many. It's called the Redeem Act.

"The REDEEM Act proposal would encourage states to raise the age of criminal responsibly to 18 years of age; expunge or seal the records of juveniles who commit non-violent crimes before they turn 15; place limits on the solitary confinement of most juveniles; and establish a system to allow eligible nonviolent criminals to petition a court to ask that their criminal records be sealed. Sealing the records would keep them out of FBI background checks requested by employers and likely make it easier for those former offenders to secure a job."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/...ng-reform-bill

S.2567 - REDEEM Act113th Congress (2013-2014)
https://www.congress.gov/bill/113th-...nate-bill/2567

I like this idea.

[Pressing-On]

Originally Posted by Jermyn Davidson

Pressing On,
The gentleman in question is not black and the drug in question is not crack.

That doesn't take away from the fact that the Congressional Black Caucus got the ball rolling on harsher penalties for drug use - including MJ. Jason Riley clearly puts out the fact that the drug laws were NOT white racism.