Is sentencing someone to life in prison for marijuana immoral?

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There are several things to keep in mind when only getting one side of the story, namely you are only getting half of the information. "Importing " marijuana (as it was called in the article) is slight misnomer for trafficking.

Not knowing all the facts of the case, I assume the persons can access an appeals process.
A life sentence does seem harsh, but is it “immoral” — doubtful.
 
anonymous_in_fl said:
There are several things to keep in mind when only getting one side of the story, namely you are only getting half of the information. "Importing " marijuana (as it was called in the article) is slight misnomer for trafficking.

Not knowing all the facts of the case, I assume the persons can access an appeals process.
A life sentence does seem harsh, but is it “immoral” — doubtful.
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You don’t think it’s immoral to punish someone continually without the ability for that person to repent and be forgiven?
 
Repenting doesn’t mean get released from jail. I hope he did repent, and realize money laundering for drug dealers was not a smart career move. I hope he realizes his continued time in prison is a message to others that drug dealing is wrong.

I googled it, it wasn’t for use (which is was the title seems to imply). It was more like a racketeering charge that involved marijuana.
 
Crusaderbear said:
Repenting doesn’t mean get released from jail. I hope he did repent, and realize money laundering for drug dealers was not a smart career move. I hope he realizes his continued time in prison is a message to others that drug dealing is wrong.

I googled it, it wasn’t for use (which is was the title seems to imply). It was more like a racketeering charge that involved marijuana.
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You’re right, repenting doesn’t mean getting released from jail, but, forgiveness should. I’m not saying he should necessarily be released from jail, but I’m just suspicious of life sentences. Is there really no other way for this man to pay his debt to society?
 
People are not punished for their own good, necessarily, but to send a message to others.
 
GEddie said:
People are not punished for their own good, necessarily, but to send a message to others.
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Yep, THAT’S what the life sentence is for. I’m no expert (and hope never to need to be!) but racketeering is several orders of magnitude above smokin’ weed. As in life sentence above (I think its the organized crime connection…)

For Stephen, there are other ways to pay, but not to send a message that sinks in.
 
thistle said:
Nobody (especially a first time offender) gets two life sentences plus 20 years for pot. There must be a lot more to this story that we do not know.
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This^^^ I worked in the criminal justice system most of my career and there isn’t one person (in the US) for only smoking pot.
 
Crusaderbear said:
I hope he realizes his continued time in prison is a message to others that drug dealing is wrong.

.
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This is the real problem though…drug laws have been around for decades now, people know the risk, people get convicted of it every day, all over the country…yet new people still keep getting into it…this proves the law is ineffective, the punishment has not decreased or even slowed down the number of offenses. So at what point do they go back to the drawing board?

When it comes to other laws, and they find they are not working, usually they are altered or changed very quickly, but for some reason drug laws are different.

This fact alone proves there is some degree of corruption and likely collusion, Id say the players are DEA, and the big pharma companies.
 
The society does not want everybody taking drugs for fun, which would happen if this became legal.
 
GEddie said:
The society does not want everybody taking drugs for fun, which would happen if this became legal.
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Not true at all. Hasn’t happened in Portugal, which decriminalized all drugs. Hasn’t happened in Washington and Colorado with marijuana. Heck, hasn’t been a huge problem with alcohol for most of human history.

Drugs are not some magical substance that sucks innocent people in. The majority of people like a chemical escape at some point, but it turns out the majority also don’t like getting blitzed, and certainly not all the time.

The drug war has created far more evils than it has ever solved. It arguably hasn’t prevented any.

Peace and God bless!
 
mikekle said:
This is the real problem though…drug laws have been around for decades now, people know the risk, people get convicted of it every day, all over the country…yet new people still keep getting into it…this proves the law is ineffective, the punishment has not decreased or even slowed down the number of offenses. So at what point do they go back to the drawing board?

When it comes to other laws, and they find they are not working, usually they are altered or changed very quickly, but for some reason drug laws are different.

This fact alone proves there is some degree of corruption and likely collusion, Id say the players are DEA, and the big pharma companies.
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What new laws can possible be effective? People are going to risk their lives and freedom for the love of money no matter what the consequences are. Always. Stricter laws wont work and having been in the system for drug related charges in my past, diversion programs for drug offenders are garbage. They help some but not most. Most are just waiting to be in the clear to use drugs again and I say this having been one of them myself and talking with others in these programs.
 
It might be imprudent, and possibly motivated out of wrath, which is indeed sinful, but the quantity/extent of consequences for breaking the law isn’t clear cut and left to the civil authorities to debate and decide.

This sentence isn’t about smoking weed though.
 
LaughingBoy1503 said:
What new laws can possible be effective? People are going to risk their lives and freedom for the love of money no matter what the consequences are. Always. Stricter laws wont work and having been in the system for drug related charges in my past, diversion programs for drug offenders are garbage. They help some but not most. Most are just waiting to be in the clear to use drugs again and I say this having been one of them myself and talking with others in these programs.
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I have no idea what kind of law might actually work to resolve this problem, but I do know the current line of thinking, punishment based, has never worked, especially when dealing with drugs and addicts.

The problem is, they are trying to fight a medical disease (addiction), by using law enforcement tactics, in the future, I think society will look back on this as a major mistake, LE should have no active role in the ‘war on drugs’, they are just not qualified to deal with it. Really the CDC needs to take over from LE, and instead of people calling police when they see suspicious drug dealing or other drug activity, they need to be calling the CDC. And if they really think they can get this under control, why havent they tried to use police to deal with other diseases, like cancer, HIV, etc (notice how stupid that sounds).lol

But since the war on drugs has been such a cash cow for so many LE agencies, they fight very hard to keep control over it, Id imagine many depts are funded near 100% from drug money…they will never let that go!

I am also a recovering a addict (heroin/ opiates), I never got into legal problems but came very close about a year ago, I watched some friends go to prison for 15yrs, thankfully I am in a great suboxone program and doing very good.
 
There are certain aspects of the drug trade that I believe can and should be dealt with legally, but use is definitely not one. When cartels become their own governments and use force to keep their businesses going, that is a legal issue. Likewise, when people manufacture and distribute dangerous substances, and bring the associated dangers into their communities, that needs to be dealt with legally.

Trying to end drug use by punishing users, however, is ineffective at best, and inhumane and evil at worst. There really isn’t any upside to punishing a use, especially an addict. Addiction isn’t a joy ride, it is a painful disease that requires specialized treatment in many cases. Furthermore, making a substance illegal never prevents it from getting to people, it just raises the price and the allure.

Some substances, like alcohol and marijuana, are likely best handled through regulation so that they remain safe. Others aren’t safe in any measure and must be prohibited, but without punishment of the users. Some people are going to use and self-destruct, and we don’t do them any favors by compounding their suffering with jail and prison. Offer judgement free treatment and assistance for those that want out of their addictions and I think we’d see a much better civil outcome. Might even save some money too.

Peace and God bless!
 
Ghosty said:
There are certain aspects of the drug trade that I believe can and should be dealt with legally, but use is definitely not one. When cartels become their own governments and use force to keep their businesses going, that is a legal issue. Likewise, when people manufacture and distribute dangerous substances, and bring the associated dangers into their communities, that needs to be dealt with legally.

Trying to end drug use by punishing users, however, is ineffective at best, and inhumane and evil at worst. There really isn’t any upside to punishing a use, especially an addict. Addiction isn’t a joy ride, it is a painful disease that requires specialized treatment in many cases. Furthermore, making a substance illegal never prevents it from getting to people, it just raises the price and the allure.

Some substances, like alcohol and marijuana, are likely best handled through regulation so that they remain safe. Others aren’t safe in any measure and must be prohibited, but without punishment of the users. Some people are going to use and self-destruct, and we don’t do them any favors by compounding their suffering with jail and prison. Offer judgement free treatment and assistance for those that want out of their addictions and I think we’d see a much better civil outcome. Might even save some money too.

Peace and God bless!
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I agree with your post, but the regulation of alcohol compared to drugs is much different, my sister is an RN, and I know a couple paramedics, they all claim alcohol causes FAR more problems in society than any drug does (even Heroin), more ER visits, more ambulance calls, more deaths, etc, all due to alcohol, yet the regulations on it remain exactly the same…no one even suggests changing the laws or creating new ones to deal with the problem…??

But when society started having problems with prescription painkillers, most states acted very quickly to create new regulations to deal with it, lawmakers were very happy to talk about the subject and support new laws.

So, they are concerned with our health and safety, BUT only if it is in relation to some substances…?? I know some people say this is due to the tax revenue booze brings in, but if they regulated and legalized opiates for recreational use, they would bring in dump trucks full of tax revenue, much more than booze brings in.

Then again, some claim its due to the HUGE alcohol companies, but big pharmaceuticals is likely as big or bigger, Im sure they would love it if their products were more widely available, strange they dont seem to speak up about this, like the alcohol industry does?
 
I was an EMT myself, and everything you say about alcohol is true. If we were to start from scratch, I believe alcohol would be considered one of the worst drugs.

The thing is society is used to alcohol; we are familiar with its use and abuse, perhaps even comfortable with it. Blackouts and hangovers, which are actually signs of serious harm, are treated casually if not condoned. Alcohol causes much more damage than marijuana in every way, but it is damage we know. We know how to work and live around the effects of alcohol, while a milder drug like marijuana scares people who are unfamiliar with moderate use.

On top of that there are so many myths that have been spread in the name of the Drug War. People actually push the notion that marijuanas effects can’t be moderated, for example, yet even a casual perusal of a website like Leafly will show that the strength and effects of various strains a products are well known and are currently being documented. Go into a pot shop in Seattle and you can ask about the strength of various strains and how to avoid getting too stoned. It is a new and imperfect system, but it doesn’t have 10,000 years of experience behind it like alcohol does. At least the consequences of misuse are nothing like that of alcohol; use too much and you should just take a nap, whereas alcohol will involve blackouts and poasible death from a variety of causes.

Peace and God bless!
 
Marijuana is a gateway drug.

Teens get hooked on this junk and can’t hardly function physically or emotionally on it. The dealers only care about the money and not their buyers well being. Pretty soon they want harder drugs that come with harder consequences. If they become desperate for cash, then they resort to violence.
 
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