Pubdate: Thu, 06 Dec 2012
Source: Tucson Weekly (AZ)
Copyright: 2012 Tucson Weekly
Contact:  http://www.tucsonweekly.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/462
Author: J. M. Smith

PRISON FOR POT

Judges continue to hand down harsh sentences for marijuana-related charges

Last winter, Kaleb Phillips stalked a man to a Maryland parking lot,
then gunned him down for being in the wrong gang. Phillips and six of
his friends plotted the murder of Arnold Fagans for several hours and
abruptly ended his life outside of his apartment on Jan. 12.

Last Thursday, Phillips, 20, took his medicine in the form of a
30-year sentence, half of which must be served, because gunning people
down is a violent crime. Yes, he won't be eligible for parole for 15
years. Violence, being so aggravating, is an aggravating factor when
it comes to murder sentencing. Give worse, get worse.

Or not.

In 2011, Chris Williams tried to offer compassion and choice to
hundreds of medical-marijuana patients from a storefront in Helena,
Mont. With some friends, he plotted the patients' well-being and
recovery, then brought it to them freely, openly and under no veil of
deceit or misgiving. However, there was a gun in his dispensary when
the feds crashed in.

Williams may have to take his medicine in the form of a minimum
90-year sentence in federal prison. He won't be eligible for parole.
Ever. Guns are bad, mmmkay? Even if they aren't yours and don't have
any of your fingerprints on them. So the feds stacked up three
consecutive, mandatory 25-year sentences (with another 15-plus years
thanks to other charges) on Williams, who is appealing his September
jury convictions on drug-trafficking with guns-a high-stakes version
of running with scissors, if you will.

Williams got the jackboot despite the Obama administration's vow not
to hassle folks who are operating within state laws. Another bit of
ridiculousness came in the case when Judge Dana Christensen refused to
allow Williams to even mention that he was meticulously following
state law. Like the nefarious honey badger, federal judges don't give
a shit! They just take what they want!

I understand the legalities. It's a non sequitur to argue in federal
court that you are following state law. But when the law unveils a
disconnect from reality, um, maybe reality should win?

There is a similar disconnect in Tucson, where local authorities
jackbooted the Green Halo Caregiver Collective back in July. Four
people were arrested for, as a Tucson Police spokeswoman put it,
"essentially" selling marijuana. Bullshit. They were offering legal
patient transactions in a secure place. No one was selling marijuana.
The Counter Narcotics Alliance Task Force knew that. That's why no one
was charged with selling marijuana. That case is awaiting action,
leaving four Tucsonans eyeing their individual swords of Damocles for
the holidays.

At some point in our current slide toward legalization, as more and
more states OK cannabis for various reasons and uses, the disconnect
between the law and reality gets ridiculous. Eventually, we will hit a
critical mass on two things-people who want cannabis legal, and people
who think fighting it is an absurd waste of money (not necessarily the
same groups). When those two groups decide enough is enough, the
federal government will have to end prohibition. You can fight City
Hall, but you can't fight the masses.

Until then, we will exist in a surreal nether region where some folks
go to jail forever for transparently trying to help their fellow man,
and violent murderers might eventually get to go home after gunning
down someone who is in the wrong gang.

So, happy holidays, Chris. The same goes to the four people the
authorities refused to name in the Green Halo bust. I'll be thinking
about you off and on over the next month, and also about the thousands
of other everyday people tossed behind bars on cannabis charges for no
good reason.

Ho, ho, ho.
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MAP posted-by: Matt