Pro-drug individuals and organized groups mislead the public, elected officials, and their supporters … I believe they do so intentionally. They claim that great numbers of marijuana users are in prisons for simple possession of marijuana.
To borrow a line from the late Paul Harvey, “and now, the rest of the story!”
In spite of being factually incorrect, this concept continues to resonate with the public. Legalizers use this misinformation to pressure lawmakers to change the laws (the basis for decriminalization efforts), and to radicalize their followers, yet information refuting the myths is readily available.
Marihuana Arrests
To illustrate the use of FBI data to support the premise that prisons are full of pot smokers, though there are several doing this, the following was taken from one pro-drug website: [ 1 ]
“In 2004, 44.2% of the 1,745,712 total arrests in the US for drug abuse violations were for marijuana . . . Of those, 684,319 were arrested for possession alone.” [ 2 ]
When one searches out the truth, there’s much more to the story.
- As the endnotes specify, the number used in this propaganda is for arrests, not individuals, and people often get arrested for multiple offenses.
- 32.4% of convictions were for drug offences, not necessarily possession.
- 12.1% of convictions were for drug “possession”.
- Of those arrested convicted and sentenced, 56% had 3 or more prior convictions.
- of the 12.1% convicted for possession, 34% of them, went to prison – that represented 4% of all convictions.
- The massive numbers of people in prison for marijuana, are / were smugglers and distributors.
- These skewed facts ignore that when a person actually is incarcerated for simple possession, invariably it’s because they’ve cooperated and been allowed to plead to a lesser charge!
- 1.7% of all convictions for drugs, were for marijuana
The truth is a much different story from those who want to raise money for defense purposes, rally their supporters, and promote legalization causes, isn't it?
Rand Corporation’s Drug Policy Research Center examined pre- and post-initiative prison-sentence data for low-level prisoners.
The pre-passage data supported prosecutors’ contentions that offenders convicted on low-level drug charges generally had more severe and extensive criminal histories and were involved with multiple drugs. Marijuana users were not overcrowding prisons in the two states as characterized by the pro-drug advocates and their financial backers (Soros, Sperling, et al.).
The University of Maryland’s Center for Substance Abuse Research published information on a study analyzing data from the “Survey of Inmates in State and Federal Correctional Facilities, 1997". It was found that charges for the majority (85%) of prisoners derived from drug distribution. Of the remaining prisoners sentenced for use/ possession, just 1.9% of those were imprisoned without any indication of involvement in distribution or a non-drug violation.
Conclusion:
The data presented are consistent across all sources and support the fact that state prisons are not housing prisoners convicted for simple marihuana possession. Sufficient data are readily available, both current and historical. Public policy decisions should be based upon factual information, not enduring myths.
[ 1 ] Drug War Facts, Common Sense for Drug Policy, Kevin Zeese, President, http://www.drugwarfacts.org/marijuana.htm. Other web sites carrying this data include NORML, Marijuana Policy Project, RC Net, et al. Citing the FBI Uniform Crime Report 2004.
[ 2 ] 1,745,712 total arrests x 39.2% of arrests for possession = 684,319 arrests, NOT the number of people arrested.
For this article, I gleaned information from publication by C.E. Edwards – Director of the Demand Reduction initiative of the Arizona H.I.D.T.A., established in 2001. Prior to that she spent 11 years as executive director of a non-profit drug-free workplace organization. The above mentioned article is available online at http://www.drugwatch.org
Comments
"[ 2 ] 1,745,712 total arrests x 39.2% of arrests for possession = 684,319 arrests, NOT people."
So we are not arresting people? I don't quite understand what you are trying to say here...
You my friend need to go and apply as a greeter at walmart.
Oh, I see. Well then, since so exceedingly few marijuana criminals are in prison, then what's all the fuss about legalizing pot for adults? I mean, since nobody goes to jail for pot - no problemo. We'll not notice the difference. Nobody goes to jail for cannabis (or so asserts prohibitionist John English here) - so nobody will notice the difference if we stop jailing people for pot. Because nobody goes to jail for it now, so why not just legalize it? English doesn't pass the straight face test. Plenty of people are arrested and jailed and put into prison for pot, which, of course, is what all the fuss is about. It happens to be very lucrative for government to jail as many people who are involved with the cannabis plant as possible. Police salaries, prosecutors' careers, judges, drug courts, sheriffs, bailiffs, forced treatment racket, drug testing industry, not to mention the jailers all make good money jailing people involved with pot. That's why they love jail-the-pothead laws so.
You're attempting to justify some degree of punishment against people who enjoy marijuana even though they are engaging in an activity with no victims and no conceivable harm. So what if a few innocent Americans get wrangled up in the drug war mess and are subjected to unbelievable and unfair atrocities in the meantime? People just like you are put through hell, even. But it's all out-of-sight-out-of-mind for you, isn't it? Who cares if one of your fellow citizens ends up taking it up the rear at a federal prison for using one of the many types of plants found in nature, right? The fact that there is even a single person serving an abundantly harsh sentence for such a ridiculous reason is a gross miscarriage of justice and the country desperately needs to stop this practice in the name of freedom.
So, doesn't matter if cannabis smokers and there families are being terrified by armed thugs that are raiding there home for a few plants. Doesn't matter that the government can call a responsible cannabis user a "child abuser" and have the power to remove the children, destorying the kids life. Doesn't matter that (whether you go to jail) being caught with cannabis can destory your job prospects for life. Doesn't matter that gang members are running around making good money from it. Doesn't matter that a bunch of 15 year olds down at the local skate park can get better weed than I can! Easier than I can!
Incarceration is just the tip of the ice berg john!
Seriously mate, do you really believe treating people like second class citizens is helping them?
None of that matters, cause a lot of people charged with cannabis possession might not actually go to jail.
John, You failed to look at COUNTY prisons where most of the low-level drug offenders are. Now who is the one that is misleading whom?
O.B. Server does not make sense. It costs money for government to incarcerate people--it doesn't make money. Drug legalizers therefore argue that decriminalization will save money for the state. But few people are in prison for simple possession of small amounts of pot, and legalizing would not save as much money as the increased cost of treatment for dependence.
Kevin: The point is that one person can be arrested multiple times.
Sam: John is not justifying punishment. He is stating the fact that very few people are locked up for possession of small amounts of pot. People get prison terms for trafficking or intent to distribute. This is not a victimless crime with no harm as pot is not a harmless drug. People who sell drugs to children or addicts are not innocent. And there's a correlation between drug abusers and non-drug related crime as half of all prisoners are drug abusers, and a large number use pot.
You want to talk about misleading the public John? How about the very first word in this article, "pro-drug".
Advocates for marijuana law reform are NOT pro-drug. We believe children should be taught to make safe decisions to NOT take drugs, and that a legal marijuana supply in this country would eliminate the drug dealers and cartels thus *ending* the easy access kids have to marijuana.
Since you cannot end the demand for marijuana and you are incapable of ending its supply then your support for the prohibition is supporting the easy access kids have to pot.
The only person pro-drugs here is you.
Dave: "pot is not a harmless drug". Though nothing smoked is harmless, enlighten me as to what makes cannabis so dangerous? We know it isn't the THC as that is a schedule III substance. So what chemical(s) are lurking in cannabis that make it so dangerous? Better yet, what in cannabis is more harmful than the isotopes of uranium-238 found in tobacco?
In most states, Department of Corrections gain more money from legislators than does the Education System. They spend much more money on inmates than they do on our nation's students. This is true in the state I live in.
John you tell me if that is a good thing?
I think you are sorely mistaken if you think that imprisoning non-violent offenders is worth more than educating our children?
Now put that in perspective because our the crowding of our jails, prisons, and penitentiaries. It doesn't even have to be because of marijuana use.
I will end by the question for John... How is that marijuana users' lives are ruined by the laws and persecution of either 1)possessing marijuana for personal use or 2) having marijuana in their system at the time of a job interview? It happens and you think it is totally justified which sickens me.
Hey John, why aren't you in the "Favorite Examiners" list? ..could it be because everybody regards you as a straight up idiot?
John just doesn't get it... add up all the numbers and this is the largest police state in the world...John thinks that cool, after all he did guard locks for a living...made his money from fear and the problems faced by everyday people due to this miss-guided 'WAR on FUN'....Every body I know calls it like they see it...No having fun....period....as soon as the fun begins...the police ain't far behind...and..lo..there's John ...foaming at the mouth too see more people locked up behind HIS locks...
We only have 5% of the world's population. We now have 25% of it's prisoners. You think that's all jaywalking? No matter how you dissect the numbers, the vast majority of prisoners are in jail for drug offenses. The majority of those drug offenses are possesion of marijuana.
Someone who wants to incarcerate and ruin the lives of innocent people is a sadist. That's John English and his ilk. Make no mistake about it, they want to conduct war on a third of the American public. They will lie, cheat, convolute statistics, studies and surveys to justify their Police State. People like John, the police, the DA's, the DEA, the ONDCP, the prison industrial complex, etc. all benefit in BILLIONS of dollars a year. No wonder they fear the end of the Drug War!
This is where the real addiction is. The addiction to the Police State. Where money and control benefits the few while lives are lost and ruined by the millions.
Isn't that a fact, John?
I am calling for John's removal from this site. His posts are misinformed and one sided. Why doesn't he target real problems like Meth addiction?
Lets keep these comments civil.
Forgive John because he knows not what he does.
John is a bad person, we all get it.
Attack the issues and not him.
The majority of the prison population associated with drugs is there for more than the lowest level possession. John is correct on that point.
Regardless of prison time, drug convictions hurt productive citizens chances of finding a good job. A drug charge stays with the individual in government records unless their is expungement.
Have a blessed day.
Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.), who has made criminal justice and prison reform a signature issue of his this year in Congress, is the most high-profile lawmaker to indicate openness to drug decriminalization or outright legalization.
"If you go back to 1980 as a starting point, I think we had 40,000 people in prison on drug charges, and today, we have about 500,000 of them," the first-term Virginia lawmaker said. "And the great majority of those are nonviolent crimes — possession crimes or minor sales."
John is right, in a sense. There are few (around 40,000) people in prison for marijuana possession offenses alone. (Like Will Foster, originally sentenced to 93 years in an Oklahoma prison for growing some pot at home).
He ignores the fact that prison is only one consequence of a marijuana arrest. A few of the detrimental effects of an arrest include:
* Loss of job
* Loss of children in custody disputes
* Criminal record affecting future job placement
* Loss of federal student aid
Another point ignored: People who are convicted of a crime, then paroled, then caught with a joint, then sent back to serve original crime's sentence, aren't considered "in prison for marijuana".
Still another: John cites 85% involved with drug distribution, probably not realizing that if you're a pot smoker with Ziploc baggies or a postal scale in your home, you're a "distributor" whether you've ever been proven to sell weed or not.
Russ Belville
NORML Outreach Coordinator
stash.norml.
Every day, a lot of well informed people come onto this site, and clean John's clock with data. I would love to see John actually tru and address some of the rebuffs. But you don't John. Therefore, your posts are boring. You only get one regular coming on to defend your posts (Dave). It is sort of like watching Tyson get in the ring with some skinny little featherweight.
I've love to see you come out and defend your thesis John.
John got his info from drugwarfacts(dot)org... OK, John, but you forgot to mention what the rest of the website says. Let me help you out:
"Our conclusion is that the present law on cannabis produces more harm than it prevents. It is very expensive of the time and resources of the criminal justice system and especially of the police. It inevitably bears more heavily on young people in the streets of inner cities, who are also more likely to be from minority ethnic communities, and as such is inimical to police-community relations. It criminalizes large numbers of otherwise law-abiding, mainly young, people to the detriment of their futures. It has become a proxy for the control of public order; and it inhibits accurate education about the relative risks of different drugs including the risks of cannabis itself." Don't you agree, John?
I quote Eddy: Genesis, 1: 29- "Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food."
Eddy, first, explain to me what denomination you belong to, then learn how to read rather than anticipate what you want it to say.
Could you explain please, how the fruit of the marijuana plant contains a seed. What fruit? Oh; you mean the seed? Then what seed is inside the fruit?
Forget the fruit John, marijuana is a "seed-bearing plant" given to man by God.
Are you a religious man, John?
If you want to get into bible talk, you should all keep in mind that cannabis didn't have the bad stigma until the '30s. Before that, cannabis was widely used in everyday life. Many bibles are still made with hemp paper because it lasts longer and keeps the paper thin and crisp.
"How was cannabis used in Biblical times and lands?"
"Cannabis was used 12 ways: clothing, paper, cord, sails, fishnet, oil, sealant, incense, food, and in ceremony, relaxation and medicine. For so the Lord said unto me, "I will take my rest and I will consider in my dwelling place like a clear heat upon herbs. For afore harvest, when the bud is perfect and the sour grape is ripening in the flower, he shall cut off the sprigs with pruning hooks and take away and cut down the branches." (Isaiah 18:4-5)"
"Did Jesus speak about choice?"
"He said not to criticize other people for their habits. "Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; that which cometh out of the mouth defileth a man." (Mat. 15:11)
Half-truths (and outright lies) do prohibitionists like yourself tell, John? Do you want to keep score?
I didn't think so.
Legalization is coming so just give up already. Or keep it up, you only serve to give us more momentum which will get us their more quickly. Your beard feeds us.
Oh, goodie, we're going Biblical now. OK, not only is cannabis a "seed-bearing plant" referenced in Gen 1:29, but it is also a source of the main ingredient in "holy anointing oil" (9 pounds of flowering tops of the "kaneh bosm" bush, the Hebrew words for "cannabis", plus some olive oil and other ingredients). This anointing oil was used in ceremonies to signify the divinity of priests, and since "Christ" means "anointed one", that makes Him one of us.
Some scholars believe that the anti-bacterial effects of topical cannabis use may have been the "miracle" that healed the lepers and brought comfort to other afflicted persons. And most certainly if you were anointed in 9 pounds of cannabis oil, you'd experience some fairly revelatory visions.
Regardless, I'm still looking for the Biblical verse where Jesus exhorts His followers to shun, harass, arrest, and incarcerate people who use one of His Dad's non-toxic creations.
Or did God make a mistake when he made cannabis?
1 person in prison or even jail for any marijuana related "crime", is too many.
New flash.....The Bible is a work of fiction.
DO NOT SKEW THE LORD'S BOOK TO ADVOCATE YOUR SATANIC LIFESTYLES! Do not forget that the devil has used the Bible to advance his arguments in the past, and he is doing so again.
Jesus loves you. It is not too late to turn to the path of righteousness. Just abandon your Satanic herb and leave the path your on to follow Jesus.
What are *you* smoking Eddy?!! Prove to us that marijuana is a "Satanic herb"!
What does this phrase even mean??? Cannabis sativa is a plant. Plants are created by GOD. Where in the bible does it say that even a single plant was not created by God?
You just made this up didn't you? haha.. talk about trying to use the Bible to advance your own arguments! Fail dude!
So, Eddy, let me see if I've got this straight: God made the heavens and earth, light and dark, waters and firmament, fish, animals, man, and plants... except cannabis, which he let Satan create?
Must be in the New International Version; I can't find that verse in my King James' Genesis.
Note the "satanic lifestyles". Sounds like anti-gay rhetoric, doesn't it? It's not the plant Eddy hates, it is the people who use it and think differently than him.
But, since Jesus allegedly turned water into wine, alcohol is A-OK, right, Eddy? I guess because God needs drunk drivers and liver failure to bring send of his souls back home.
MJ can stay in your system for 30 days. Testing positive just meant they had used it in the past month.. not that they were busted intoxicated.
Why didn't these surveys ask those same people if they had consumed alcohol in the past 30 days? Or used nicotine even (both proven to be addictive substances). Why would anyone, who can think for themselves (not you John, obviously), believe any of these misleading statistics when they only show a small part of a much larger story?
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