Jim Finnel
Fallen Cannabis Warrior & Ex News Moderator
The crowing tone of the press release is a pretty good indication that the Lafourche District Attorney's Office took the drug charge against Matthew Zugsberger seriously.
"A California man on a self-professed crusade to change Louisiana's marijuana laws instead pled guilty to felony drug charges Monday rather than face a jury of his peers," the release begins.
At issue was the case against Zugsberger, who was caught receiving a shipment of more than two pounds of pot.
Zugsberger argued that his prescription for use of medical marijuana should be respected in Louisiana even though it was issued in California. The local district attorney disagreed, opting instead to spend more than three years going after a man whose only crime was possessing marijuana.
I know it's a crime. But don't we have more important things to do?
Aren't there people out there committing crimes against other people who might be more deserving of prosecution and jail time? Apparently not.
In fact, even Zugsberger deserved no jail time. At the end of years of legal arguments and the like, costing God knows what to both sides, Zugsberger pleaded guilty Monday and got ... no time in jail.
Let's get this straight. This legal case of massive importance, meriting a self-congratulatory press release and all, resulted in a suspended sentence.
Zugsberger all along admitted he possessed the pot. His argument was that he had permission to possess it.
The legal system, on the other hand, argued that he had no such right and had to be punished severely for this crime that hurt no one.
In the end, I suppose, they were both right.
Zugsberger had to forfeit the marijuana. He also had to forfeit the $4,640 in cash he had at the time of his arrest. ( I'm still not sure why the cops can just take your money. ) And he had to pay a $2,000 fine. In addition, he will serve three years of probation.
So it cost him plenty. On top of all that, he had the expense of defending himself against a charge that could easily have been avoided.
But, significantly, no jail time.
"The defendant's medical marijuana card did not allow him to flaunt our laws, and this plea shows that he finally acknowledges that," District Attorney Cam Morvant II said in the release.
I respectfully disagree. Instead, it shows that a person can possess two pounds of pot without getting sent to jail. To me, that means we might as well do away with an outdated, draconian law that does nothing more than legally harass otherwise-law-abiding citizens.
How many people are in America's prisons right now because of nonviolent drug offenses?
Too many.
The debate is relevant again locally because our parish officials are in the midst of discussing what kind of jail they're going to build to replace the outdated one now being used.
There has been some talk of building a giant facility that would hold many hundreds of prisoners. Do we really need that, or could we handle some of the seemingly infinite supply of prisoners by having more sense about what we make illegal and what we choose to vigorously prosecute.
Mr. Zugsberger possessed marijuana, a crime in Louisiana. But he had a prescription for it. Are authorities here going to prosecute everyone they find with an out-of-state prescription? If so, the sheriff and Parish Council had better make plans for a much bigger jail than they have discussed. If not, why treat this guy differently?
It is time we got over our knee-jerk reaction to marijuana and started having some common sense. Marijuana doesn't kill as many people as drinking or cigarettes. And they're both legal.
I don't want everyone walking ( or driving ) around stoned. But we could punish that kind of behavior ( like we do with DWI, for instance ) without imposing penalties on marijuana possession that are way out of line with the actual threat it poses.
Besides, how illegal can something be if you can have 2 pounds of it and not go to jail?
NewsHawk: Jim Behr: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: Courier, The (LA)
Copyright: 2011 Houma Today
Contact: letters@houmatoday.com
Website: HoumaToday.com | The Courier | Houma, LA
Details: MapInc
Author: Michael Gorman
"A California man on a self-professed crusade to change Louisiana's marijuana laws instead pled guilty to felony drug charges Monday rather than face a jury of his peers," the release begins.
At issue was the case against Zugsberger, who was caught receiving a shipment of more than two pounds of pot.
Zugsberger argued that his prescription for use of medical marijuana should be respected in Louisiana even though it was issued in California. The local district attorney disagreed, opting instead to spend more than three years going after a man whose only crime was possessing marijuana.
I know it's a crime. But don't we have more important things to do?
Aren't there people out there committing crimes against other people who might be more deserving of prosecution and jail time? Apparently not.
In fact, even Zugsberger deserved no jail time. At the end of years of legal arguments and the like, costing God knows what to both sides, Zugsberger pleaded guilty Monday and got ... no time in jail.
Let's get this straight. This legal case of massive importance, meriting a self-congratulatory press release and all, resulted in a suspended sentence.
Zugsberger all along admitted he possessed the pot. His argument was that he had permission to possess it.
The legal system, on the other hand, argued that he had no such right and had to be punished severely for this crime that hurt no one.
In the end, I suppose, they were both right.
Zugsberger had to forfeit the marijuana. He also had to forfeit the $4,640 in cash he had at the time of his arrest. ( I'm still not sure why the cops can just take your money. ) And he had to pay a $2,000 fine. In addition, he will serve three years of probation.
So it cost him plenty. On top of all that, he had the expense of defending himself against a charge that could easily have been avoided.
But, significantly, no jail time.
"The defendant's medical marijuana card did not allow him to flaunt our laws, and this plea shows that he finally acknowledges that," District Attorney Cam Morvant II said in the release.
I respectfully disagree. Instead, it shows that a person can possess two pounds of pot without getting sent to jail. To me, that means we might as well do away with an outdated, draconian law that does nothing more than legally harass otherwise-law-abiding citizens.
How many people are in America's prisons right now because of nonviolent drug offenses?
Too many.
The debate is relevant again locally because our parish officials are in the midst of discussing what kind of jail they're going to build to replace the outdated one now being used.
There has been some talk of building a giant facility that would hold many hundreds of prisoners. Do we really need that, or could we handle some of the seemingly infinite supply of prisoners by having more sense about what we make illegal and what we choose to vigorously prosecute.
Mr. Zugsberger possessed marijuana, a crime in Louisiana. But he had a prescription for it. Are authorities here going to prosecute everyone they find with an out-of-state prescription? If so, the sheriff and Parish Council had better make plans for a much bigger jail than they have discussed. If not, why treat this guy differently?
It is time we got over our knee-jerk reaction to marijuana and started having some common sense. Marijuana doesn't kill as many people as drinking or cigarettes. And they're both legal.
I don't want everyone walking ( or driving ) around stoned. But we could punish that kind of behavior ( like we do with DWI, for instance ) without imposing penalties on marijuana possession that are way out of line with the actual threat it poses.
Besides, how illegal can something be if you can have 2 pounds of it and not go to jail?
NewsHawk: Jim Behr: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: Courier, The (LA)
Copyright: 2011 Houma Today
Contact: letters@houmatoday.com
Website: HoumaToday.com | The Courier | Houma, LA
Details: MapInc
Author: Michael Gorman
