God Bless America

BJ · Post by BJ » Sun Jun 23, 2002 6:04 am

Okay, this country is really messed up. We all know that. It's just that sometimes the big stuff (our bloated, hollow "War on Terrorism") can't hold a candle to the smaller stuff....and I'm not so sure this one counts as smaller stuff.

Here's Friday's front page for the Stevens Point Journal ("All the News We Choose to Print"):

That pretty woman in the photo was killed by a 17-year-old, insanely drunk driver (her husband was driving and yes, the child was in the car--both were injured). She was only 30. The 17-year-old was sentence to 358 days in jail and 15 years probation. Her husband said it best: "I'm troubled by the idea that if you drink and drive and kill someone, you won't necessarily go to prison if it's your first offense. But I wasn't shocked or surprised."

Now, look at the bottom left, at the headline that says, "Amherst Pot Bust Nets 105 Plants". Here's the continuation of the article later in the paper, under the continuation of the drunk driver article:

The guy had 719 grams of processed marijuana (that's about a pound and a half) and a bunch of plants. He faces a maximum fine of $126,500 and up to 22 years in prison. If he even gets one year in prison, and you know he'll get more than "just" one year, he's got the 17-year-old beat.

The 17-year-old got this sentence: 358 days in jail, $29,974 for funeral/car/medical expenses, 1,000 hours of community service and an extra $936 for injury caused by operating a motor vehicle while drunk. Oh and they suspended his driver's license for the next five years.

Now I'm not a supporter of marijuana, but I certainly don't care if someone's making it, selling it or smoking it. The stuff is everywhere. When was the last time you read about someone killing a person because they were high? I read more articles about drunk drivers in one day than I do stoners in a year. Did the pot guy kill anyone? No. Did the 17-year-old? YES. The recommended sentence was 10 years, but the judge felt the kid was remorseful enough and ready to turn his life around.

Remind me to practise my puppy dog eyes just in case I get picked up for murder someday.

Last point: Wisconsin supposedly has a zero-alcohol tolerance for underage drinking. I'm going to ride my motocycle these days, comfortable in the knowledge that a dangerous pot dealer is behind bars.

Joshnickerson · Post by **Joshnickerson** » Sun Jun 23, 2002 12:42 pm

The world is a messed up place. I've never taken drugs, but I think it's ridiculous that we waste all this time and energy procecuting people who smoke marijuana, and tossing them in jail for decades. It's just stupid. I've read that most prisoners in jails are marijuana offenders, and the jails are so full, they have no place to put real criminals, like murderers, robbers, and Dick Cheney.
What they SHOULD do, is put drug users on treatment programs instead of locking them up until the end of time (Drug DEALERS, though, I think should get some jail time). Put the users in some sort of program, monitor their progress and then put them on probation when they are finished with the programs. That would probably be a lot more effective and a lot cheaper then tossing them in jail.

Appendix Q · Post by **Appendix Q** » Mon Jun 24, 2002 5:25 am

Ah, let's all bask in the glory of our perfectly logical government... [/sarcasm]

Incidentally, I just read an article about the government cracking down on political cartoonists who poke fun at either Bush or the aforementioned "war on terror". Apparently some people have forgetten about an unimportant little thing called freedom of speech.

BJ · Post by BJ » Mon Jun 24, 2002 12:53 pm

No no, Appendix--it's not about freedom of speech or any of that crapola. Haven't you heard? Dubya (sorry) G.W. Bush is a war hero! He's taken this country farther forward in his short tenure as president than any other! He's cleaned up the environment, lowered the national debt, increased minimum wage, lobbied for national health care, kissed babies... you name a saintly, selfless act, G.W. is your man! He's freed slaves! And not only did he sign the Declaration of Independence, he helped DRAFT the thing!

Why, he may just be the second coming---OW!!!!

Thanks, Joey. whew. That computer chip they implanted in my brain must've kicked in. Sorry.... I'd rather have a president that just has sex in the Oval Office. Dubya's a complete, self serving twit. He was a twit before, and now that he's got backed by the best propaganda machine in the world, it's even worse. I'm gonna go sob in a dark corner as I rock slowly back and forth...

....back and forth....
....back and forth...
....back and forth....

Cassaclyzm · Post by **Cassaclyzm** » Mon Jul 01, 2002 5:26 am

*applauds*

It's nice to see that someone else has noticed the general insanity that are the laws these days. I'm Canadian, but my boyfriend lives in the south of the States... He really likes Bush, so I hear a lot of the other side of the story, but I happen to not particularly like him.

Quite a few times I've gone on about the drugs vs killing thing... it just makes my blood boil. It isn't too much different up here, either. War on Drugs... They aren't a foe to be fought, but a series of substances that we need to be made AWARE of so we can make the right descisions OURSELVES. We don't need to be protected from ourselves, we need to be protected from people who try to kill us :-P