When Judge Delaney sentenced me, he did so after a short speech, during which he mentioned his admiration for Muhammad Ali. Specifically he referred to the fact that Ali took a position even though he knew it would result in, at the very least, criminal charges, and at the most, a few years in prison and the unlikelihood of ever being able to make a decent living. Further, Delaney related that Ali stayed and took his punishment rather than flee the country.
He didn't mention the fact that, after undergoing considerable adversity, Ali was adjudged not guilty of the "crime" for which he was charged.
My sentence was 45 days in jail, work-release eligible, and the balance of one year on probation, during which I could "take no public role in any program advocating legalization of marijuana (later amended to include other illicit substances)."
Mostly I avoided trying to find out where the line was going to be drawn. Really, as "punishment," the avoidance of public advocacy that the world is round is not that tough. As "punishment," Delaney should have banned me from Walmart for a year. Arguably, however, it was punishment for the people for whom I speak--those who know that cannabis is a palliative and sometimes life-saving remedy for a wide range of adverse medical conditions, one that often works when conventional remedies don't.
I was not given a "light" sentence. I was given a typical sentence, except for the gag order. I got about what anybody with no felonies, no previous drug offenses, etc., would have received for the amount of cannabis involved (3.67 oz.).
Ironically, the gag order part of the sentence drew international attention to what would have been just another one of the 850,000 marijuana arrests in 2009.
Well, now I can talk, not that I need to. World history is amazingly rapidly showing us the fruits of attempting to control folks' appetites by means of unnecessary, whimsical, force. No one needs me to help them see that.
Consider who has seen the Trooper Oxner post. If the Attorney General has seen it, so have about 10 people in the chain of command, to be conservative in my estimate. Oxner has seen it. Think he doesn't know my license number by now?
But I don't think that everyone along the line was immune to the realization that they are all working for drug lords, and their hands are awash in the blood of 22000 Mexicans.
4 comments:
BAH. There are no Mexicans in Hermosa and you need to stay off the weed, my friend. Stop pretending it's for your "sick friends" and man up about why you want it. I know.
Breakfast with hair nets?
Grud, it doesn't matter if the proponents of medical marijuana don't really need it for medical reasons. That doesn't change the fact that it DOES have medical value for SOME people. Accordingly, vote yes.
Besides, it's not like Bob was anti-weed until the medical argument came along.
Welcome back to being a US citizen and being able to enjoy human rights that are protected by The Constitution (as much as anyone else, at least).
Grud, do you think people should be put in jail for possessing cannabis?
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