A Bullshit Bust and Time To End The Hypocracy...

[catnhatnh]

...So as I ran a snack bar my brother and I run in Rochester NH a customer of mine was arrested today. He came in about a quarter to three and wanted a bottled water and a cheese steak. I sent him out back to the picnic tables with his water to await the sandwich-he said he was meeting someone and they would recognize his truck.Took 5-6 minutes to toast his roll, grill his meat and melt his cheese, but when I returned to the serving area, his water was on the table but he was gone.

So I looked out front and there was his pickup with a white police car parked at the nose and a black one to the rear-my customer was being handcuffed.One detective laughed and suggested I might want to package his meal "to go"...

...later when my customer returned at five, I learned he had come to town to meet the detectives regarding possibly "hot" speakers he was selling-he bought them on E-bay and had full documentation. Foolishly he arrived with a pipe and a couple grams of grass in his open ashtray. They arrested him just to gain leverage...

...It is ALL horseshit. No sane person believes that the use of marijuana CAUSES people to live in their parents basements or fail to seek work. Too many people I admire for either their accomplishments or their functional lifestyles smoke grass. Medicinally after 50 years old it should be required. At that age, there are too many aches and maladies that can be eased or eliminated to ignore the benefits.

My customer will make a court appearance and pay a fine. In other states he would be jailed and we would pay to incarcerate him. Remind me which is a crime...

[aspergris]

1. really?

in what states would we pay to incarcerate a FIRST TIME OFFENDER with a little MJ in his ashtray?

I've worked as a cop in 3, and I have NEVER seen somebody incarcerated (more than overnight) for that amount of MJ that wasn't a multiple-priors felon.

Also, anybody who is stupid enough to leave MJ in plain sight in an open ashtray, almost deserves to be arrested just on principle :)

Note, I am 100% for decriminalization of mj.

Note also that the fact that he had it in his CAR'S ASHTRAY suggests more than mere possession. It suggests he drives after smoking or during. iow, DUI .

although, the last NHTSA study I read suggests that driving under the influence of MJ is generally not as dangerous as DUI alcohol.

I agree about the hypocrisy. Neither obama nor mccain supports decrim fwiw.

I am pretty sure sharpton, kucinich and ron paul did.

[catnhatnh]

2. Yep...Stone Cold Stupid...

...but I hear stories out of Texas and find US incarceration rates remarkable....

[aspergris]

4. again

those stats are misleading. If you actually look CASE BY CASE you realize it is VERY rare for anybody to get more than a couple of days (if that) for first time possessory offense of a bit of bud.

first of all, a LOT of people get a warning from the cop, the mj gets disposed, and it never even gets to court.

Often when you see people listed as statistics, there's a bit more to the story - like they were already on probation (they will jail you for stuff when on probation that isn't even criminal - merely violating terms of probation can get you jailed. has nothing to do with mj itself.) and caught with some stuff, or they were caught dealing, and it gets plead down to mere possession with some time to serve, etc.

Like I said, i base this on many years experience and in 3 different states.

the idea that marijuana users routinely get thrown in jail is NOT true.

like i said also, I don't even think it SHOULD BE A CRIME AT ALL.

Also note that many jurisdictions HAVE decrim'd it. California has decrim'd small amounts for personal possession.

in my jurisdiction, it's EFFECTIVELY decrim'd.

[catnhatnh]

7. Agreed with the proviso...

that all I know was he wanted a sandwich and was stupid...that said I was shook and he seemed very cool with the cops (as in NOT a vestal virgin).Two hours later when he returned by cab to pick up his pickup he seemed more concerned about whether I preserved his sandwich than the prior activities/show...
...yet past all that, instead of Reefer Madness, I saw a guy trying to make a dime-not a drug addled idler...

[Wizard777]

12. I know lots of cops that support legalization. Even some at the DEA are supporting it.

I debate police corruption with real cops and lawyers. So the subject comes up. The black market sales of drugs is a corrupting influence upon the police departments. Just like durring prohibition. Alcohol prohibition corrupted police departments nation wide. Towards the end the police had basically become the peoples hitmen. They would just go out and gun down the gangsters like another gangster would. WW II may have been the greatest generation. But the generation that repealed prohibition had to be our wisest generation. Because they actually understood that the cure was far worse than the disease. Sure alcohol can destroy a person. But Prohibition was threatening to destroy our society. They did the wise thing and repealed prohibition.

[HCE SuiGeneris]

16. Arizona -- ask Sheriff Arpaio.

[Union Thug]

3. Lifestyles and Accomplishments - Funny thing... I know of an employer

that doesn't drug test, it is rumored, because many of it's highly skilled technical staff smoke lots of the green and they'd kind of like to keep a stable workforce. I can't vouch for the rumor, but I do know some of the employees of this company and can vouch for, um, -witnessing- the consumption of said green by these fellows. :-)

[lonestarnot]

5. And in McSame's state (or so he thinks), your customer would also

pay for his own rent in the Sheriff Joe's tents at 115 degrees outdoors.

[Trajan]

6. As a long time supporter of complete legalization

WHY was your friend driving with it in his car ashtray ?

As much as I want to see 'green' legal, I frankly DON'T want to see people driving on it ....

Even if one smokes and THEN drives: having it in the car ashtray is an invitation to be cited, or arrested if the state laws allow for that ....

Your friend made a big mistake .... Hopefully he will show more discretion in the future ....

[catnhatnh]

9. Get back, Jack!

Friend? Takes more than a steak sub purchase (much more) to get that title. Which part of what I wrote did you fail to understand?

[Trajan]

11. I guess 1000% of it ...

You DID say this was Jesus Christ and he was selling Heroin to nuns at the Vatican ... right ?

Sheeesh .... OK ... NOT your 'friend' ..... a small distinction compared to the primary thrust of your narrative: Nevertheless he was a foolish man being impractical in a crazy world ....

Friend ? .. Did I say he was your friend ? ... I meant to say former playground supervisor ....

:silly:

[catnhatnh]

15. Perhaps I was snappy...

...but my friend count is way lower than you might imagine.You for instance are a "potential" friend...

[Wizard777]

8. I actually agree with that required after 50. I'm 76 and I've been smoking it for over

a half century. I'm also not a walking pill bottle like others my age. My blood pressure is fine. My only real ailment is a collapsing spine. No I'm not a senator or Congressman. LOL. That's from me being 6' 11". Eventually gravity wins. But other than that I'm perfectly healthy and am enjoying an unusually long life for someone my size. But I learned early on that the worst thing for your health is stress. Marijuana has a way of alleviating that.

[catnhatnh]

10. Yep...

I just made 6' once. And 5' 9 3/4" HURTS...

[Wizard777]

13. Tell me about it.

I used to be 6' 11". I can straighten up to about 6' 10". But with my slouch that takes weight off my back. I'm about 6' 9". So I've only lost an inch. The spongy tissue between my vertebra are wearing out. They can fix it. They can cut my back open and place sponges between the vertebra. But I'm not having the operation until I'm in near constant pain. There's traction involved. They'll have to stretch me back out to my original height. I might rethink this. I'm not getting any younger. Age is a real factor in the operation. Soon it's gonna be now or never. Sooooo.......

[spag68]

18. potheads anonymous

At 66, and after a life of crashing motorcycles and cars, playing football, and outdoor construction, it has happened to me also with the crushed discs. I have legal scripts for vicodan, and other stuff, which I would gladly give up for some of that good govt. pot. First got pot during a visit through the Panama Canal in 1960, while in the Navy. Best thing that ever happened to me. Don't smoke cigs. or drink alcohol <29 years sober>, and I would promise not to smoke it while riding the bike, as it makes me go too slow. other then that no real effects after 48 years of weed. I still hold out hope of legalization in my lifetime.

[ben_meyers]

14. What if he had an open bottle of beer in his cup holder?

That would probably meant he wouldn't have been back 2 hours later to pick up his lunch. Stupid is as stupid does.

[OwnedByFerrets]

17. Ive never smoked it...and I think its the

most insane law on our books. Its a fucking weed for christs sake.

[sharesunited]

19. Here's the first step of the copper twelve-step program.

Confiscate the pot and skip the bust.