Bill would lessen punishment for marijuana possession

News 8 Austin ^ | 2/18/2003

[new cruelty]

A state lawmaker from Houston wants to change the punishment for possession of marijuana.

Right now it's a Class B misdemeanor in Texas, punishable by a fine not to exceed $2,000 and/or confinement for a maximum of 180 days.

Rep. Harold Dutton, D-Houston has written a bill that makes possession of less than an ounce of marijuana a Class C misdemeanor.

It would also be the equivalent of a traffic ticket.

"You wouldn't lose your drivers license, you don't lose any of these other things that you do in a Class B setting," Dutton said.

Dutton doesn't condone marijuana use, but he says his bill would provide many people a second chance.

[eno_]

They do mention herbs, many of which are psychoactive in ways that are inside or outside whatever today's drug warriors think are evil, as God's gift. Psychoactive plants and plant extracts and preparations are far older than any religious tradition, and Christian scriptures recognize what was a contemporary reality at the time they were written, and promote knowledge and use of the natural pharmacopeia.

Compare this with the very recent invention of marijuana as an "evil" in order to keep Prohibition-era federal LEOs employed. This current prohibition is directly connected to the old and failed Prohibition, is anti-Constitution, and, at best, ignores scriptural reccommendation - at worst it perverts it.

[IncPen]

< yawn >

[TightSqueeze]

We are never gone to get smart about the drug war.

Yeah, a mouthful indeed, did you write this by yourself, or did your local NARC help you?
You know, if they weren't pissing away so much money on this bogus WOD you might have revived a better-than 6 grade writing education.

[Houmatt]

Looks like I am going to have to call my state rep.

[Orangedog]

Q: What do the war on drugs and the public schools have in common?

A: The more money and power thrown at them, the further they get from their stated purpose. The war on drugs was has been given a lot of our money and power over us to curb/end drug use...drug use is much higher than before the WOD. The public schools were given a lot of our money and power over us in the name of educating the children...we have the most ignorant kids on the planet now.

I see a pattern.

[eno_]

You're probably the same cop who shows up to take away the kids when the parents don't want Ritalin shoved down their kids' throats. A Drug Warrior in more ways than one.

[IncPen]

You're probably the same cop who shows up to take away the kids when the parents don't want Ritalin shoved down their kids' throats. A Drug Warrior in more ways than one.

What is your basis for this comment?

[eno_]

Actually the pattern goes deeper than that.

Drug War addled PDs suck at solving burglaries and muggings, and are even losing effectiveness against rape and murder. In some cities you have a better than even chance of getting away with murder. Policing is going down the same road as public education.

Look at Chief Moose of the DC sniper case. He could be interchangable with any inner-city high school principal, cheap Ph.D. and all.

[new cruelty]

Is Rep. Harold Dutton, D-Houston your rep.?

Let me know how the call goes.

[eno_]

You blindly follow orders.

You'll be there to confiscate guns, too.

Why not? It will be the law one day.

[The KG9 Kid]

"... For now, I am of the mindset that if you can't afford the high price (be it money, time in jail, rehab, etc.), don't do it. If you can, knock yourself out."

And to think that some malcontents in our society believe that the rich get away with everything because they can afford to.

Why, where did they ever get that notion?

[IncPen]

You blindly follow orders.

You'll be there to confiscate guns, too.

Why not? It will be the law one day.

Uh, no. In fact I just sent away for my FOID.

Anything else?

[IncPen]

Do you have an intelligent reply to my #47?

[new cruelty]

we do.

[AUgrad]

Please excuse my ignorance. What is a FOID?

[IncPen]

Not a dumb question

FOID = Firearms Owners IDentification card

Varies from state to state; $5 fee where I live

[eno_]

Good for you.

How about this: Tell me where the FedGov is allowed to make it illegal to grow and smoke pot? And are the arguments that the FedGov IS allowed to do so any stronger than the arguments they use to infringe the RKBA?

Or try this on for size: Is Ritalin more or less harmful than pot?

Or how about this: Is that wet spot in your backyard a federally protectable wetland? If not, why not?

One day you may find the Drug War in inconsistent with conservatism. Until then, stay safe, stay armed.

[IncPen]

  How about this: Tell me where the FedGov is allowed to make it illegal to grow and smoke pot? And are the arguments that the FedGov IS allowed to do so any stronger than the arguments they use to infringe the RKBA?

I believe that most states also outlaw the growing, use and selling of drugs because they're bad for people and bad for society and people who don't use drugs pay the consequences of people who do.

As to your second point, being that the 2nd Amendment (that is, the second thing that the framers saw fit to include in the Constitution) dealt with the arming of the populace, I think you've answered your own question. The framers didn't mention pot, cocaine, heroin, etc.

Or try this on for size: Is Ritalin more or less harmful than pot?

Ask your doctor about Ritalin, I wouldn't hazard a guess. My experience with marijuana leads me to be of the opinion that it's best left as it is.

Or how about this: Is that wet spot in your backyard a federally protectable wetland? If not, why not?

Funny you should mention this. My family and I successfully fought off the greens and the feds on this very issue in my very yard. We prevailed for a number of reasons.

One day you may find the Drug War in inconsistent with conservatism. Until then, stay safe, stay armed.

I do find it odd that a branch of anarchy has wrapped itself in the cloak of conservatism and comes to us with this proto-libertarian ideal of "no WOD = no consequences". It's a flawed premise on its face, and until you and Mr LeRoy (FR's own WOD-obsessive) can present a logical reasoning as to why we should drop the gates and let the drugs in, I'll respectfully (for the most part) disagree.

Until you do, it's a bunch of utopian yapping based on a childlike version of "let's pretend".

One thing I've noticed about the pro-dopers is a consistent inability to stay on topic. Now please answer my question at #47...

[eno_]

Well, the IInd is very important, but what is the IXth? Chopped liver? Perhaps you, unlike most Drug Warriors, are happy to leave this issue to the states. That would be fine with me, too. Heck, if Utah wants to outlaw booze, let them have at it, which also has no explicit protections in the Constitution. (Do you know why that makes no difference?)

I think you are dodging this question. Sure, there are a lot of reasons to think smoking lots of pot is a bad idea, but the question was meant to put it in perspective: Is it worse than the beer advertized on TV? Is it worse than the Ritalin forced on school kids? It would be interesting to know what you think about this.

As you know, the environment is the most precious gift we have. I find your resistence to the good people trying to protect that environment disturbing. Perhaps they should take another look at your wetland. You may be a federal criminal and not know it.

[TightSqueeze]

...drop the gates and let the drugs in...

You know what they say, location, location, location. By stating letting the drugs in, just what are we talking about here, from your kid bedroom to yours, from your neighbors house to your living room, from Iowa to Maine or from Russia to the USA?