The sheer folly, not to mention the destructive impact, of the war on drugs continues unabated. You see news stories nearly every day about law enforcement’s time and efforts being wasted on marijuana arrests, while other, serious crimes like burglaries, car thefts and domestic violence cases go begging for attention. And don’t get me started on how we wouldn’t have to release prisoners early if the jails weren’t crowded with drug offenders.
A story today is instructive: A Rock Hill father and son, ages 45 and 20, were arrested over the weekend for marijuana possession and sales out of their mobile home. Both men were out of work and making a little, er, undocumented money on the side; drug agents set up the son for a small purchase, after which they found a whopping four whole, evil ounces of pot stashed under the mobile home. Now, both son and dad are still in jail, under a $10,000 bond each.
Also in the news, a 17-year-old from Lincoln County was arrested yesterday in Mount Holly. Officers say they smelled the odor of marijuana in the teen’s car, so they checked, found a bag of pot, and handcuffed the kid, at which point he started spitting, saying he had tried to eat the pot when he saw the police (Weedies, the breakfast of champions?). Now get this: The kid is being held on a $25,000 bond — well over the amount of bail usually demanded of local pot sellers whose supply is under a pound.
The war on drugs is generally recognized as an abysmal, wasteful and destructive failure by anyone who’s even remotely been paying attention the past few decades. That would include the Global Commission on Drug Policy, containing former heads of state and a former UN Secretary General, which recently released its report calling the war on drugs an utter failure that should be abandoned. And yet the busts continue that, at this point in our cultural history, are moronic at best and brownshirt-ish at worst.
Here’s one more example of how insane the whole thing has become. In a case that has received much notice lately, Penelope Harris’s apartment in the Bronx was searched last year. Police found a third of an ounce of pot. In New York, that’s too little pot to even be charged with a misdemeanor; plus, the pot was Harris’ boyfriend’s, and she tested negative for drugs. So everything was dropped and everyone went about their own business, right? Not exactly. Ms. Harris’ son, 10, was taken from her and kept in foster care more than a week. Her 8-year-old niece, who was living with her as a foster child, was placed in another home and was kept by a foster care agency for more than a year, while Ms. Harris went through a long child-neglect investigation, even though she had no criminal record. What’s even more unbelievable is that this is apparently standard practice, according to The New York Times, which reports that “Hundreds of New Yorkers who have been caught with small amounts of marijuana, or who have simply admitted to using it, have become ensnared in civil child neglect cases in recent years, though they did not face even the least of criminal charges … a small number of parents in these cases have even lost custody of their children.”
All because of marijuana. People, this is completely nuts.
This article appears in Best of Charlotte 2011.
Well, if you don’t care if you get cancer, then go ahead and smoke a few joints. One joint is equivalent to a whole pack of cigarettes, as far as tar, nicotine, and other carcinogens are concerned. Check out ALL my facts and I’ll check out yours. Plus, who are you REALLY buying the stuff from. If you’re ABSOLUTELY SURE it’s just an out of work person who’s selling the stuff (and also growing it) on a small scale and has no connection to the Mexican drug cartels or any drug dealers, then fine. But did you know, that most of the stuff comes from these dirt bags, especially the Mexican drug cartels. They bring thousands of women and children across the Rio and use them as sex slaves (a recent testimony in Reader’s Digest revealed that an ICE agent busted a huge sex slave ring, as well as others), along with thousands more as work slaves, who get paid next to nothing for their work and are kept under lock and key and always watched. So be sure you’re not supporting these dirt bags when you buy the stuff. And are you that stressed out that you REALLY HAVE to buy the stuff, or are you so angry that you have to show your rebellion against authority by smoking pot? If you get cancer, and I’m not saying you will, unless you smoke it on a regular basis, who’s going to pay your medical bill? I’m pretty sure you can’t afford the cancer treatment. So guess who picks up the tab and the doctor time (time that could go to people who have heart disease, cancer from other causes, diabetes, children with diseases and other problems, the elderly with emphysema and other illnesses, etc.)? The government, which means me and millions of other Americans who don’t do the stuff. That comes out of our paychecks for Medicare or Medicaid to treat people like you, too. In other words it adds to extra taxes. We’re already overtaxed, and in this down economy, we need the money for ourselves and our families. So, if you don’t need to smoke pot for a legitimate medical reason, why do it? Plus, an Australian documentary on TV showed that a lot of young men and women who are addicted to the stuff, cannot find useful work, and have mental problems. Again, check out my facts and I’ll check out yours. Post them on a Yahoo forum too, or Facebook.
Did you get that hilariously false talking point in the 1950’s? Do some real research.
Legalization would cure the societal ills you speak of, do you really not realize that?
This just in, marijuana contains nicotine and is wildly addictive.
Rocky here is either a master troll or pitifully stupid.
I’m leaning towards stupid.
Rocky is I’m sure one of Charlotte’s finest, feeling good about bringing down the trailer park kingpins.