Katy, Ooooh very very good perspective.

I think they petitioners think she’d be better off at home with her kids than in prison for a first offense but you have some VERY good points here. Yes.

Steph

Marijuana should be legal. This sentence is insane, it doesn’t matter if it’s her first offense or if she’s a mother. Over 800,000 people were arrested last year for minor possession of marijuana at a cost in the billions of dollars just to arrest them, not even prosecute, convict, jail, and follow up. Moms (and Dads) would not be any likelier to deal out of their house than they are to sell booze out of their house if marijuana were legal and regulated.

But Holly, don’t you think 12 or even 8 years is excessive for this crime? Do you think it’s reasonable that even violent crimes often come with lighter sentences? I don’t think it’s as simple as you’re making it sound.

Manjari – not for me to decide if a sentence is fair. I imagine her state has sentence guidelines and that her sentence falls within what is typical for her crime. That’s the thing about breaking the law…you risk the consequences and those consequences can be harsher than you feel is fair, but it’s not up to you, it’s up to a judge. Don’t break the law and you won’t have that problem!

Bunny – nope, never tried it, nor have most people *I* know. I did the math and figured it was not worth the risk! And she was not found in possession, she was found guilty of distribution. Different things. I actually do support my local law that punishes small possession with a fine rather than jail. But, at the time and place where this lady sold the drug, it was illegal. Even if they made it legal now, it’s not retroactive and she still broke the law and put her kids at risk.

Marijuana is classifed as a narcotic since when?

The concern isn’t simply because she’s a mother, that just factors in considering her children now have a 6 times more likely chance for being sent to prison as well with their mother incarcerated the first part of their life. At the burden of the tax payers, we’re looking at spending over a million dollars in state resources to fight these types of actions… all for $31 worth of marijuana. In fact, over 46% of the nation admits to have trying marijuana, roughly 20% will use it at least once this year, and 100% of the people know at least one person who has tried it in their lifetime. A recent study shows that if asked, over 3 of 4 homes support a change in our marijuana laws, yet if asked, “Do you think your neighbor supports it?” just the opposite… 3 of 4 homes feel like they won’t… propaganda has gotten the best of us all. The last three US Presidents admit to have smoking marijuana, yet they get to become leaders… while low-income families like Spottedcrow’s get treated like second-class citizens and locked away for a decade. We’re arresting over 800,000 people every year on marijuana charges, 90% of which is for simple possession. Since 1965, we’ve arrested over 20 million people on marijuana charges alone… George W Bush did cocaine, smoke marijuana, got a DUI, and ran our deficit twice over spending trillions of tax payer dollars… and yet, he won majority vote twice to be the leader of our “free nation.” Yes, many things are illegal, yet 100% of the people have broken the law in one way or another, whether you know the consequences of your actions. Imagine if African-Americans didn’t drink from the “wrong” fountain, imagine if women suffrage never happened, imagine if our forefathers, who all grew hemp, simply allowed Britain to make the rules and the revolution never happened. I’m not saying she didn’t break the law, I’m saying it’s a broken law to begin with. There are better alternatives. The only risk involved here is it’s illegal, you can’t have a crime without a victim.

Drinking, in public or in private, is more dangerous, speeding is more dangerous, rolling through stop signs is more dangerous, smoking cigarettes around kids is a thousand times worse, even drinking a cup of coffee or a can of soda is more dangerous (according the National Institute of Drug Abuse http://www.saferchoice.org/images/SAFER/comparingdangers.png)

Rehab, proven to be a better alternative, would be a much better solution in this case than a 8+ year prison sentence. Now she’ll come out with a felony charge, which makes it next to impossible to get a job, a stranger to her children, and most likely a hardened criminal most likely resorting to a life of crime or continued low-income (opening the doors for more potential problems).

In this particular case, the modification hearing was cancelled by the judge just two days prior to her review and she was given a slightly lesser sentence. She wasn’t even granted a fair hearing. Which goes against everything the nation stands for. We spend $20 billion every year nationwide fighting marijuana, over $120 million alone in Oklahoma, and yet it becomes more potent, more expensive, and more readily available… especially to children. The drug war has been, is now, and always will be, an utter failure. We need to regulate marijuana and treat it like alcohol, if this was the case here… Patricia’s case wouldn’t be so severe. Prohibition of marijuana is comparable to alcohol prohibition… it created crime, corruption in law enforcement, excessive underage use, and countless problems… even more than what we have in a regulated market.

One more tidbit, our nation only makes up 5% of the world population, yet we make up over 25% of the world’s prison population… we incarcerate more people than any other country in the world… the majority of which is for non-violent crimes as such.

How can this be called justice when child molesters, rapist, and many murderers have been given lesser sentences? How is locking her up going to prevent marijuana from being distributed? I would like anyone contending with these arguments to tell me how they think molesting children or raping someone is less of a crime than selling marijuana?

Garret Overstreet
Executive Director, Tulsa NORML

@Holly: “Bunny – nope, never tried it, nor have most people *I* know.”
They’re lying to you, dear. In any case, I’m sure that in your life, you have jaywalked, or driven above the speed limit, or any number of minor things that are also illegal.
Agreeing with Katy – if you’ve got loads of cash, it doesn’t matter what you do; your sentence will be less, if you get sentenced at all. Ask yourselves, folks who support this: are you fine with the fact that the people responsible for the wholesale destruction of the Gulf of Mexico, leading to widespread wildlife death and illnesses for thousands of people, are not in jail, while this unlucky lady is?