I already knew legalizing weed was going to create some controversy. The debate about people who got arrested and in prison for possession or distribution of weed were going to get their sentence re-modified are now in discussion. In my personal opinion, people who are incarcerated for possession of marijuana should all be released because it is a nonviolent crime. Granted at the time, marijuana was illegal. But now since marijuana is practically legalized, I truly believe inmates who are detained in prison should be released. This debate will probably go on for months, considering majority of all prisons in the United States have many civilians who are incarcerated for marijuana relations.
The State of Colorado is now in discussion for possibly releasing or re-modifying everyone’s jail sentence. Cannabis in Colorado also known as the legal term marijuana became officially legalized in January 2014. The Colorado Amendment 64 was passed by voters on November 6th, 2012. Possession of Marijuana charges are typically a jail sentence less than one year and up to a $1000 fine. Inmates who have been detained prior before being legalized have already served their sentence. But for those who were distributors and second/third time offenders, the consequences and punishments were doubled. So there are plenty of inmates who are currently detained longer than 2 years.
Drug related cases are years away from being finalized, especially on a federal level. Modifying and reviewing drug related cases could also affect other cases as well. Whether an inmate gets parole or not. It solely depends on the law system. Colorado’s Attorney General John Suthers have mentioned in the article that cases like this could retroactively affect non-drug related cases as well. Regardless of whatever the scenario may be, I believe people should get a retrial and see where they will go from here. Legalizing marijuana is a significant law change. Prisoners who are serving their jail sentence at the moment should all get a chance to see if they can get some kind of parole or modification of their jail and fine sentence. Many inmates can not even afford to pay the fines. Especially if you are a second or third time offender. Fines can be up to 5-10K.
Former House speaker John A. Boehner made a great point. He stated that, when we look into the percentages of people who are incarcerated for possession of small amount of cannabis, which are non violent crimes related, its really a head scratcher. Why are we imprisoning people for non violent crimes when there are people out there committing murder, and we are too busy tracking down people who possession of cannabis. To me, that doesn’t make any sense. If you are going to officially legalize marijuana, I say release all of the inmates immediately or modify their sentence. The judicial law system is strict. I understand that. Going through all of the cannabis cases will probably take months. Being arrested for possession of marijuana can vary as well. Some arrests could also be involved with possession of a fire arm. Now for things like that, a immediately release is not possible. Not all inmates who are imprisoned for marijuana charges have the same case.
Before California legalized cannabis, more than 2,100 people were arrested in 2015. Now since then, hundred of such inmates have been released. They have a very forgiving system. Inmates who filed a petition under the Proposition 64 were granted their release. Despite the state of California being a “forgiving mood” inmates who are still locked up on Federal Pot Offenses have not been granted to be released. Federal charges are blocked from the Proposition 64. Hundreds of inmates who are sentenced on Federal charges are still locked up. Perfect example: In 2008, Mr. Scarmazzo, was sentenced to nearly 22 years in federal prison on charges of marijuana distribution and running a continuing criminal enterprise. So again, this is not a simple marijuana charge. Every case has a different scenario. If inmates were running a private enterprise or constantly distributing, you can be tried on federal terms. Granting a release from that standpoint is nearly impossible. The argument he presented to President Obama was he was running a legitimate medical related business. President Obama granted a small pardon but he will not be released until 2027.
Everybody deserves a fresh start. As long as a manslaughter or murder charges were not apart of the marijuana or distribution marijuana charges, I think everybody deserves to get a fresh start. Any Federal charges related, I think they deserve to get a small pardon. If their prison sentence was 20 years, I say cut it down to 2 or 3. Best case scenario, give them a chance to be released with parole and probation. We all knew this was going to be a huge factor in all discussions and debates. Everybody is going to have their opinion based on whether everybody should be released or not. I still stand by my points on why people who are detained should be released. The State of California even stated, since Feb 1, 2018, hundreds of more inmates were released. They were dropping all of the convictions. Even the Senator stated, “Why would we detain any inmates who were jailed for nonviolent criminal charges?” If the law changes, everyone should get their chance at freedom.
Senator Corey Booker introduced legislation that would not only legalize marijuana but also expunge past marijuana-related convictions and penalize states with radically-disparate arrest or incarceration rates for marijuana-related crimes. The current arrest report indicates, African American males were nearly arrested four times the amount more than white males. Booker’s bill would withhold some criminal justice funding from states that haven’t legalized marijuana if they exhibit racially disproportionate rates. Senator Corey Booker has some suspicions regarding racial profiling in these arrests. The reports do not lie. Again, people who were arrested for cases like this should all be granted their release.
There is a huge obstacle regarding legalizing marijuana and the debate about releasing inmates because of the law change. Despite Senator Corey Booker introducing the legislation with a new bill, Federal law right now considers weed as dangerous as heroin and more dangerous than cocaine. This proposal has been creating some controversy because it will impact thousands of states and federal inmates who are incarcerated to be freed. I don’t understand how you can put weed in the same category as heroin and cocaine. Heroin and cocaine are on a whole new level. You can die from overdose. I’m not saying weed can’t kill you, but you can definitely overdose easily on heroin and cocaine. To me, that statement does not make any sense. This is one of the obstacles of why inmates who are charge based on federal offenses are not able to be grated their release. The bill that was proposed would automatically expunge federal marijuana and possession crimes. His argument is based on, “of color.” Senator Booker believes many of the people who are currently incarcerated are African American males who did not get a fair trial. Out of federal prison inmates jailed for marijuana offenses between the years of 1994-2012, more than half were latino and black. He believes our country’s drug law is flawed. He is seeking immediate change in our judicial drug system. He believes it is not making our communities safer. Instead it is antagonizing and instigating violent crimes, tear families apart, unfairly impact low-income communities and communities of color, and waste of billions in taxpayer dollars each year. The states spend about $3.6 billion enforcing marijuana laws annually. If thats the case, why not legalize marijuana officially in all states and utilize that income on other useful things. $3.6 billion dollars is a lot. I don’t need to say it for people to understand how much money it is. There are many people out there who could use even 5% of that money. The level of poverty has increased in the states. The country is in some insane debt. We owe more than trillions of dollars to other countries. We are not utilizing our funds correctly.
Marijuana again is a nonviolent crime. It can also be used in for medical purposes. There is no reason for America to waste their resources in incarcerating people for nonviolent crimes. We should be focusing more on tracking down human-trafficking, murder, rape, assault, etc. I’m sure the space that the inmates are taking for cannabis criminal charges could be occupied for other purposes. If America chooses to utilize their resources more efficiently, I’m sure our country will start moving to a more positive direction. There are many families out there who are torn by this. Many athletes and students were also impacted by this. Athletes who have lost their scholarship and students who are delayed from pursuing their educational dreams. I am praying we can come up with a better drug system. Let’s go America!
