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time for a rational national drug policy

Listening to:	Walter Reed, Michael Penn
Reading:	Stiff
Weather:	29, sun coming up

Jaycee Dugard's captor Philip Garrido was on parole as a sex offender, a form of supervised release, for 10 of the 18 years she was living in a fucking tent city in his backyard. It stank so bad in Anthony Sowell's Cleveland neighborhood from decaying murdered bodies that his neighbors avoided hanging out outside. He was a sex offender who had been on supervised release since 2005.

How hard is it to figure out that these creeps are seriously dangerous and should be a high priority for monitoring and supervision in the criminal justice system? It's not. The excuse will be given repeatedly, the probation officers are overloaded with too many cases, they don't have the time and resources to do what it takes to keep these obvious recidivists from killing and kidnapping more of us.

State prisons nationwide are full of drug offenders, many of whom committed no crime other than drug violations. Probation officers have huge caseloads full of people whose only crime was drug-related. No violence. No harming other people. Just using or growing or selling drugs to other adults.

You do drugs everyday. You drink caffeine, a drug that even at moderate levels of consumption impairs driving and high levels seriously impairs driving. You endanger me when you drive after your 3rd cup. You take a pill whenever you feel _____________________ (fill in the blank, it's an interactive post today). Those pills are probably damaging your liver, kidneys, perhaps causing a cascading need for you to take yet other drugs, "my heart pill makes me need my blood pressure pill which makes me need my water pill which makes me need my. . ." Yeah, even your habitual acetaminophin use. You drink beer, wine, distilled spirits, all of which are at the heart of lots of family violence, deteriorating health, and deadly impaired driving. Your sugar intake is atrocious, definitely damaging various organ systems and causing your mood swings and periodic depression and hyperactivity.

Did I miss your drug of choice?

Here begins the real rant: You can overdose on WATER but you can't overdose on marijuana. It's a plant. They call it "weed" cuz it's a frickin WEED, it grows virtually anywhere with very few pests other than the DEA and the local overzealous gun-toting town cop. Your tax dollars pay for absurd levels of law enforcement devoted to trying to incarcerate 1/3 of the population, that's how many smoke pot. It's as futile as trying to eradicate the dandelion and just about as sensible.

Probation officers (and cops, judges, prosecutors, jailers, etc.) need to have enough time to smell and investigate the rotting flesh at Anthony Sowell's house. They need to go see Philip Garrido's kidnapping and rape compound right in his backyard. They can't do that because of all the responsible adult potsmokers they have to check on everyday because of this stupid futile dangerous and failed drug war. Let's use reason and eliminate the criminalization of victimless pot smoking. Just say Know.

permalink posted by cat 7:18 AM

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