This country seems at times to be moving toward marijuana decriminalisation and certainly greater social acceptance of marijuana, but I discovered today to my great chagrin that in some places, including the town I live in, it still has a long way to go. Please join me after the fold for my rant about the outrageous sentence handed down for the "crime" of selling someone a bag of weed (something that is not a crime at all in British Columbia where my sister lives).
But first, let me explain how I see this as germane to a political site like Daily Kos. Aside from the fact that we need to press Democratic legislators to change drug laws so this kind of outcome is not possible, the judge who handed down this draconian sentence is a longstanding member of the Adair County Democrats, whom I have not only voted for repeatedly but have supported in fundraising events! (Ugh, that makes me want to be sick, in retrospect.) There are also potential racial issues involved, as you will see...
Kirksville is apparently going against the national trend and engaging in an all-out war against pot. The Truman State University newspaper, the Index, noted two pot busts (both using an undercover informant or "narc") in a two week span early this spring semester. One of the busts appears to be this one. Curiously, this is the only one of the several recent drug busts (a number of which are for meth, which is nasty stuff) reported in the city's newspaper, the Daily Express, in which a photo is shown--and it just happens to be a black dude.
I probably would have noted these arrests (none of which, by the way, are of people I know or have met or even heard of) with annoyance but not outright alarm or outrage, if it weren't for this article from yesterday's paper, revealing what fate likely awaits them at the end of their sojourn through the criminal "justice" system:
According to a press release issued by the Adair County Prosecuting Attorney, Lisa D. Allensworth,[sic] pleaded guilty Tuesday to the felony sale of more than five grams of marijuana.
She was sentenced to 10 years in prison with probation being denied.
Say what?!? As I noted in my comment below the article, this woman pled guilty, which is supposed to get you softer treatment than going to trial and being convicted, and she gets ten years in the slammer with "probation being denied". (And five grams, for those not familiar, is not a lot--if you've ever heard of someone buying a "quarter", that's seven grams.)
I have no idea what Allensworth's race is, though I'm certainly curious. Even if she's white, it's still unjust; if she's black, it shows a pattern that is beyond outrageous given that there are very few minorities in this county and plenty of white people who smoke pot.
As others noted in the comments, she probably would have gotten a lighter sentence had she raped a child or shot somebody. And like the other cases I cited, she was busted by a narc. So someone's going around on the taxpayer's dime pretending to be a pot smoker and ruining lives, while convenience stores cheerfully hand over cancer sticks to anyone over 18, or bottles of Everclear to those over 21 (yup, Missouri law is that lenient when it comes to booze).
Talk about reefer madness.