Obama commutes prison sentences of 214 Drug Offenders

[Katzndogz]

Breaking story: He just commuted the prison sentences of 214 drug offenders. Many were in prison for crack cocaine. This story is alarming when you consider the level of lawlessness that is already on the streets of America.

Obama commutes prison sentences of 214 drug offenders

WASHINGTON, Aug 3 (Reuters) - President Barack Obama commuted the prison sentences of 214 individuals on Wednesday, the most grants of clemency in a single day since at least 1900, the White House said.

Obama has now granted a total of 562 commutations during his presidency, more than the number by the past nine presidents combined, it said.

The president has worked to reform the U.S. criminal justice system to reduce the number of people serving long, and in many cases life sentences for drug related crimes. It is a rare topic in which the Democratic president has received support from Republican lawmakers.

Many of the convicts had been serving time for crack cocaine. For years crack offenders faced stiffer penalties than offenders of powder cocaine, even though the substances are similar on a molecular level. Critics have said the disparity has unfairly harmed minority and poor communities.

good. they shouldn't be in jail that long for nonviolent drug offenses. the rockefeller drug laws are moronic.

Get then out of jail and back on the street. I heard there is a shortage of experienced crack dealers.

gotta love it... .drugs should be illegal but guns should be available to everyone.

Why don't you ask Whitney Houston about crack cocaine? If you have a problem with guns, take it up with the 2nd Amendment in the Constitution.

Cocaine and marijuana. Or, check in with her daughter. It wasn't the drug war that killed these women.

 

[TooTall]

Get then out of jail and back on the street. I heard there is a shortage of experienced crack dealers.

What you heard is wrong. There is not nor has there ever been a shortage of dealers of any type of illegal drug, which is precisely why the War on Drugs is and has been a totally counterproductive farce which benefits only a small number of special interests -- such as the law-enforcement establishment, the piss-testing industry, the pharmaceutical industry, the liquor industry, the legal profession and, outstandingly, the prison industrial complex.

Those interests deposit billions of lobbying dollars into the pockets of our Congressional representatives almost all of whom routinely vote against legalization of any so-called "controlled substance," regardless of how harmless and beneficial it is proven to be.

But thank you for the opportunity to present these facts to those who have the intelligence to constructively evaluate them.

I guess my source was wrong. Now there will be a surplus of crack cocaine dealers on the street. I hope none of them were from Chicago.

 

[charwin95]

Actually these are old news....... Like Richard Reser of Sedwick, Ka sentence to 40 years for fire arm possession and dealing methamphatamine in 1989. He will be freed Dec. 1/16.
Today with the same crime most you will get 5 years. Read a lot of these stories and one of my golf buddies is a criminal defense lawyer.

A criminal defense lawyer? You mean someone so unscrupulous they're willing to do things to get those that need to be locked up freed?

He casually tell us stories about some of his cases and we also shared other stories during or after golf....... How he conduct his own cases we don't want to know.

I just told you why you don't want to know.

WTH...... That's my business dude.

The problem is when the manner of how it's conducted starts negatively affecting society, it becomes the business of society.

Again. That's my business and whatever you do with your business I don't give a crap. Pick something you want to talk about or STOP wasting my time.

 

[ABikerSailor]

Breaking story: He just commuted the prison sentences of 214 drug offenders. Many were in prison for crack cocaine. This story is alarming when you consider the level of lawlessness that is already on the streets of America.

Obama commutes prison sentences of 214 drug offenders

WASHINGTON, Aug 3 (Reuters) - President Barack Obama commuted the prison sentences of 214 individuals on Wednesday, the most grants of clemency in a single day since at least 1900, the White House said.

Obama has now granted a total of 562 commutations during his presidency, more than the number by the past nine presidents combined, it said.

The president has worked to reform the U.S. criminal justice system to reduce the number of people serving long, and in many cases life sentences for drug related crimes. It is a rare topic in which the Democratic president has received support from Republican lawmakers.

Many of the convicts had been serving time for crack cocaine. For years crack offenders faced stiffer penalties than offenders of powder cocaine, even though the substances are similar on a molecular level. Critics have said the disparity has unfairly harmed minority and poor communities.

good. they shouldn't be in jail that long for nonviolent drug offenses. the rockefeller drug laws are moronic.

Get then out of jail and back on the street. I heard there is a shortage of experienced crack dealers.

gotta love it... .drugs should be illegal but guns should be available to everyone.

Why don't you ask Whitney Houston about crack cocaine? If you have a problem with guns, take it up with the 2nd Amendment in the Constitution.

Cocaine and marijuana. Or, check in with her daughter. It wasn't the drug war that killed these women.

Marijuana didn't kill them either. It was the hard drugs.

And no...................marijuana isn't addictive or harmful.

 

[TooTall]

good. they shouldn't be in jail that long for nonviolent drug offenses. the rockefeller drug laws are moronic.

Get then out of jail and back on the street. I heard there is a shortage of experienced crack dealers.

gotta love it... .drugs should be illegal but guns should be available to everyone.

Why don't you ask Whitney Houston about crack cocaine? If you have a problem with guns, take it up with the 2nd Amendment in the Constitution.

Cocaine and marijuana. Or, check in with her daughter. It wasn't the drug war that killed these women.

Marijuana didn't kill them either. It was the hard drugs.

And no...................marijuana isn't addictive or harmful.

That is what the cigarette companies said for many years about cigarettes.

 

[jillian]

Get then out of jail and back on the street. I heard there is a shortage of experienced crack dealers.

gotta love it... .drugs should be illegal but guns should be available to everyone.

Why don't you ask Whitney Houston about crack cocaine? If you have a problem with guns, take it up with the 2nd Amendment in the Constitution.

Cocaine and marijuana. Or, check in with her daughter. It wasn't the drug war that killed these women.

Marijuana didn't kill them either. It was the hard drugs.

And no...................marijuana isn't addictive or harmful.

That is what the cigarette companies said for many years about cigarettes.

the right would have a breakdown if cigarettes were illegal.

 

[ABikerSailor]

Get then out of jail and back on the street. I heard there is a shortage of experienced crack dealers.

gotta love it... .drugs should be illegal but guns should be available to everyone.

Why don't you ask Whitney Houston about crack cocaine? If you have a problem with guns, take it up with the 2nd Amendment in the Constitution.

Cocaine and marijuana. Or, check in with her daughter. It wasn't the drug war that killed these women.

Marijuana didn't kill them either. It was the hard drugs.

And no...................marijuana isn't addictive or harmful.

That is what the cigarette companies said for many years about cigarettes.

Actually, there are many doctors who will tell you that cannabis has many positive medical uses, as well as is non addictive physically.

And........don't try mental addiction, because you can become mentally addicted to anything, people, gambling, money, running, etc.

 

[2aguy]

gotta love it... .drugs should be illegal but guns should be available to everyone.

Why don't you ask Whitney Houston about crack cocaine? If you have a problem with guns, take it up with the 2nd Amendment in the Constitution.

Cocaine and marijuana. Or, check in with her daughter. It wasn't the drug war that killed these women.

Marijuana didn't kill them either. It was the hard drugs.

And no...................marijuana isn't addictive or harmful.

That is what the cigarette companies said for many years about cigarettes.

the right would have a breakdown if cigarettes were illegal.

Why? We believe in freedom, you guys are the ones using the government to go after salt, Mexican food, chinese food, toilets, soda size, theater butter popcorn........on and on .........

You guys are the ones smoking in all of the hollywood movies.......and that is just annoying....

 

[TooTall]

gotta love it... .drugs should be illegal but guns should be available to everyone.

Why don't you ask Whitney Houston about crack cocaine? If you have a problem with guns, take it up with the 2nd Amendment in the Constitution.

Cocaine and marijuana. Or, check in with her daughter. It wasn't the drug war that killed these women.

Marijuana didn't kill them either. It was the hard drugs.

And no...................marijuana isn't addictive or harmful.

That is what the cigarette companies said for many years about cigarettes.

Actually, there are many doctors who will tell you that cannabis has many positive medical uses, as well as is non addictive physically.

And........don't try mental addiction, because you can become mentally addicted to anything, people, gambling, money, running, etc.

Thanks for admitting that cannabis is addictive. Gambling, money and running are not an addictive drug.

 

[MikeK]

Cocaine and marijuana. Or, check in with her daughter. It wasn't the drug war that killed these women.

Actually it probably was.

One of the things which prompted the repeal of alcohol Prohibition was the great and rising number of deaths attributable to the widespread use of "bathtub gin," which was rotgut booze concocted by unscrupulous bootleggers for sale to those who couldn't afford to pay for high-priced imported liquor. This stuff was made by mixing a small amount of import liquor with anything from Isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol to anti-freeze, both of which are toxic, and any number of other "cut" substances that looked, tasted and/or smelled like whiskey.

The same situation exists today in the underground distribution of illegal drugs, none of which are sterile and measured with the kind of laboratory precision as are ordinary pharmaceutical products. In simple terms any drug which is sold on the underground market is certain to be adulterated, so the buyer can never be sure of its potency and purity.

I recall a situation back in the seventies in which a batch of heroin "hit the street" in New York City's infamous "Needle Park" which was cut with a toxic substance that killed thirty-two users and made dozens more seriously sick. It also is a fact that most street-grade bootleg marijuana has been treated with growth-inducing chemicals and pesticides -- all of which are carcinogenic.

The problem of poisoning by "bathtub gin" was solved when Prohibition was repealed because the purity of any liquor sold by a licensed dealer is certified pure by its manufacturer and there is no reason to sell an adulterated version. The same situation would exist if some (not all) recreational drugs were legally available to adult buyers from federally licensed and supervised dealers under strictly regulated conditions.

 

[Jarlaxle]

gotta love it... .drugs should be illegal but guns should be available to everyone.

Why don't you ask Whitney Houston about crack cocaine? If you have a problem with guns, take it up with the 2nd Amendment in the Constitution.

Cocaine and marijuana. Or, check in with her daughter. It wasn't the drug war that killed these women.

Marijuana didn't kill them either. It was the hard drugs.

And no...................marijuana isn't addictive or harmful.

That is what the cigarette companies said for many years about cigarettes.

the right would have a breakdown if cigarettes were illegal.

No...but the government's budgets would have a gigantic hole!

 

[QuickHitCurepon]

Tell me, brainiac, where are all the murderous liquor bootleggers at?

If you insist.

They are at the beck and call of the cartels.

I was dumbstruck during his campaign Ron Paul said that we should just legalize all drugs.

If we did that, the drug cartels, most of them in Mexico and Columbia, will lose a lot of their crime trade. Does anyone think that they will mostly all just quit crime and become bakers, barbers, or cashiers? No, of course not. Felons spend long stretches in prison and still will not change. It is still far less likely the cartels will just give up crime just because they lost much of their business.

The cartels are already starting to migrate into the southernmost areas of the US near Mexico. No one should then be surprised that if we legalize drugs that most of the cartel members will then move into major U.S. cities and towns and find new ways to make money in rackets, numbers, kidnapping, murder, etc. It would be absolutely insane to legalize all drugs and open pandora's box. Once we do it, there will be no turning back.

The War on Drugs is a misnomer. It is really a mission. A mission to save the innocent, the less fortunate from the perils of illegal drugs. Yes for most, pot is no problem at all, and I agree. I support medical marijuana. But there are many people that have very bad reactions to even just pot, and it often ruins their lives. Should we sacrifice these people for expediency? NO!

But it's not just pot. It is also cocaine, crack, speed, pills, heroin, LSD, acid, and methamphetamines. These drugs absolutely destroys ANYBODY'S life that touches them for long, and they are intensely addictive so that approximately half the people, I'd say, that take these drugs have their lives come to a quick and/or premature ending.

DTMB, do you support the legalization of those drugs, cocaine, heroin, and meth? I cannot possibly see how you could. It is asking for a world of trouble, when we are ALREADY heading into deep trouble. Why compound our problems?

Having drugs easily in reach of anyone at the local store will undoubtedly lead to a tremendous increase in drug usage across the board. Usage could triple or quadruple. It is only common sense. We can see this trend with alcohol, where it is very common for people to binge. Where binging is not commonly done with drugs now, because of how expensive they are, that will change if they are sold at 7-11 let us say.

 

[QuickHitCurepon]

Breaking story: He just commuted the prison sentences of 214 drug offenders. Many were in prison for crack cocaine. This story is alarming when you consider the level of lawlessness that is already on the streets of America.

They are probably cronies of his from his glory days. The crackheads know each other well.

 

[MikeK]

[...]

The War on Drugs is a misnomer. It is really a mission. A mission to save the innocent, the less fortunate from the perils of illegal drugs.

[...]

A "mission?"

The War on Drugs is an absolute fiasco. It started as a bad idea which has evolved into a monumental waste of public resources, a counterproductive boondoggle which serves the interests of the law-enforcement establishment, the legal profession, the prison industrial complex, the liquor and pharmaceutical industries, the blood and urine testing industries, a number of murderous trafficking cartels -- and the corrupt politicians who cooperate with them by maintaining the illegality of recreational drugs.

Tell us one constructive thing the War on Drugs has accomplished since Nixon initiated it in 1971 and Reagan escalated it in 1982. You can't because there is none. Recreational drugs are more readily available today than they were in 1971 -- and they cost less. So what has the drug war farce achieved?

The War on Drugs is the perfect example of trying to solve a problem by doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result -- which some believe is one definition of insanity.

You need to understand that the nation of Portugal decriminalized all recreational drugs fifteen years ago, taking what was a persistent problem out of the hands of law-enforcement and treating it as a public health issue -- which it is. The result has been a more than 50% reduction in addiction and general use.
Why hardly anyone dies from a drug overdose in Portugal

The way to deal with our national drug problem is the same way we dealt with the problem of cigarette smoking, which is through intensive public education. Today, in spite of the fact that nicotine is more addictive than heroin, eighty percent fewer Americans smoke cigarettes than did in the 1980s. I am one who quit a 35 year cigarette habit in 1985. I did it as the result of public education -- not the threat of arrest and imprisonment.

Again, the War on Drugs is not a mission. It is a totally counterproductive social malignancy.

 

[ABikerSailor]

You know..............CO legalized marijuana and opiate overdoses have gone down by over 25 percent.

Oh yeah....................they also got so much money in tax revenue they are thinking of refunding everyone's state taxes.

And.........it's been proven to be helpful to those suffering from PTSD. Too bad the VA can't get behind the research and help the vets.