A drug-smuggling ring, retaliation and a coverup led to a prisoner’s death, lawsuit alleges
My friend Steve Hampton and I talk at least once a week. He sent me this article.
Excerpts from the Article:
Before 21-year-old Seth Zakora’s body was found lifeless in his bunk in 2017, his cellmate had warned guards that something was wrong. Zakora didn’t look well.
In the days leading up to Zakora’s illness, illicit drug overdoses sent two other prisoners at Michigan’s Lakeland Correctional Facility to the hospital. By the time corrections officers checked in on him in the morning, Zakora’s body was stiff and covered head to toe in a sheet. Zakora’s family claims he died of an overdose of fentanyl, which they say flowed into the prison through a drug-smuggling ring run by the guards, according to a federal civil rights complaint filed last week.
The lawsuit claims state corrections officials failed to stem the flow of illegal drugs into the prison or care for prisoners vulnerable from opioid addiction. Its allegations capture the challenge that corrections facilities face as the opioid epidemic roils outside prison walls: How can they care for inmates with drug addiction while drugs remain as lucrative and in-demand in prisons as they are on the street?
“Whatever you can get on the outside, you can get on the inside, but it’s easier because you know it’s coming from the guards,” said Solomon Radner, the attorney representing Zakora’s estate.
Opioids killed more than 47,000 people in 2017 alone, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and their lethal nature doesn’t stop at prison doors. In California, which has the largest prison population, overdoses are up 113 percent over three years, with opioid-related deaths on the rise as well, according to an investigation earlier this year by the San Francisco Chronicle.
Just one week after Zakora’s mother, Brandy, filed the lawsuit in Michigan, the family of a man who died of a fentanyl overdose while jailed in New Orleans filed a similar claim that alleged the jail staff’s failure to treat his addiction and stop the flow of illicit drugs violated his constitutional rights.
“When someone comes over and tells you something that sounds crazy, they laugh it off. But you hear it from 20 people … maybe you start to think, there’s something to it,” Radner told The Washington Post.
Radner said that even though the cases are widespread, the lawsuits are difficult to bring no matter how dramatic the allegations appear on paper; Zakora’s complaint includes claims of an affair between a guard and a prisoner that facilitated the drug smuggling and hints at a coverup by corrections officials.
“You need a perfect storm for a [lawsuit] like this. One, you need someone to have suffered. Second, you need someone, or their loved ones if they’re deceased, to care,” he said, noting that prisoners in the throes of addiction are unlikely to complain about the presence of illicit drugs. “[Third] is overcoming this rule that people don’t snitch — and that make[s] it particularity difficult to have not only inmates but guards come forward.”
Zakora’s lawsuit claims that drug smuggling is a well-known issue in Michigan Department of Corrections facilities and that efforts to flag it were met with retaliation against staff and prisoners. It cites two other facilities where claims of drug smuggling went without investigation and prisoners who confessed to taking part in the smuggling operations wound up dead in custody.
In the Lakeland facility, where Zakora died, drugs were “in abundance,” the lawsuit states, and were introduced into the prison through a smuggling ring that a female corrections officer allegedly orchestrated with the help of a prisoner she was having a relationship with. Even when another prisoner tried to alert investigators to the matter, going so far as to describe how the drugs were coming in and from whom, the state took no action, according to the complaint. An investigation into drugs in the prison didn’t take place until after Zakora’s death; a drug-sniffing dog reportedly made “positive indications” for contraband, the lawsuit said.
Zakora’s death was the first overdose death at Lakeland in nearly 20 years, while 13 people have died from drug overdoses in MDOC facilities in the past decade, according to Gautz.
Several of the corrections officers named in the lawsuit knew Zakora “had involvement with the drugs,” the complaint said. Zakora, who was serving a sentence of three to 22 years for sexual assault when he died, “feared for his life and told his grandmother what was happening in the prison, how drugs were coming in from the outside, and how he was afraid he would not make it out alive,” the lawsuit said.
When Zakora left solitary confinement, two corrections officers allegedly told him “he had gotten himself into this mess,” in reference to Lakeland’s drug problem, “and now it was his problem to deal with. ”
“There’s misconduct and corruption in the prison system and it happens at the highest level, and people are dying as a result,” Radner said.
“I think sometimes people think of [prisoners] as less than human,” Clarke said. “It’s important to remember that everyone who is in prison is someone’s child, brother or sister. The best thing for people with addiction is to make treatment available. ”
More than 20 percent of people in the MDOC system have opioid use disorder, according to information from Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s (D) office. In November, the state announced it would begin offering medication-assisted treatment, or MAT, in three MDOC facilities, with the goal of having MAT in all state prisons by 2023. Lakeland is not among the facilities in the pilot program.
COULD A BLOOMBERG PRESIDENCY REALLY REDUCE THE NATION’S PRISON POPULATION BY 900,000 PEOPLE?
Yes it could, and that is fantastic news for EVERYONE! Law enforcement, inmates, anyone in our court system, and especially taxpayers! Amid all the talk talk talk of the past few years about ending mass incarceration, little has changed: a 2% decline in prison populations. We MUST do more.
Excerpts from the Article:
On Tuesday, business mogul, former New York City mayor and Democratic presidential contender Michael Bloomberg visited Jackson, Mississippi, to speak on criminal justice reform.
“Keeping people out of the criminal justice system was a top priority for me as mayor for 12 years,” Bloomberg said. “Even as the number of people incarcerated went up in the rest of the country, we [in New York City] were able at the same time to reduce the number of people behind bars by 39 percent.… If the rest of the country had achieved that kind of reduction, there would have been about 900,000 fewer people behind bars today nationwide.”
Such a large figure may seem outlandish, especially for a candidate who has already had to apologize for one of his previous approaches to criminal justice—Before and during Bloomberg’s administration, New York City policy carried out hundreds of thousands of “Stop and Frisk” searches, wherein officers could halt and pat down civilians based on little evidence. The policy was disproportionately enforced in communities of color and was the subject of lawsuits brought by multiple advocacy organizations against the city.
Nevertheless, the math in Bloomberg’s statement was correct. According to data released in March from the Prison Policy Initiative, approximately 2.3 million people are in some manner of confinement in the United States—including prisons and jails—and 39 percent of that number is about 900,000.
Data from the New York City Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice comparing the number of inmates in New York City jails and prisons per 100,000 residents with the rest of the country showed that the number of people imprisoned in New York City steadily dropped during Bloomberg’s time as mayor. However, the trend actually began years before he took office. Between 1999 and 2000, the number of incarcerated people in New York fell from 853 per 100,000 residents to 750 per 100,000—a 12 percent drop.
“Notice that the downward trend in the city’s jail [and prison] population began before the Bloomberg administration, and was dropping at a faster pace,” the president of the Council on Criminal Justice, Adam Gelb, wrote to Newsweek in an email.
In fact-checking similar statements Bloomberg has previously made related to the drop in New York crime, Politifact reported that he “can’t claim all the credit.” Still, the website rated his statements about the lower rate of crime “mostly true.” “It’s very difficult to attribute credit or blame to a specific administration,” Gelb said. “It’s complicated here by the fact that the trends were well underway before he took office.”
As for whether or not it would be feasible to extend New York policies across the country, Deborah Archer, an associate professor of clinical law at New York University, told Newsweek that it is indeed “possible.”
Archer’s message aligned with what Bloomberg said in Jackson, detailing how programs needed to be put in place locally to be effective at reducing crime and incarceration. Bloomberg told his Mississippi audience that reducing the prison population required “improving schools, expanding job training, and investing in economic growth” and that the best way to keep people out of jail was to invest in “local programs.” If he were elected president, he said he would do in communities across the country what he did in New York.
“If New York City can reduce its prison population significantly there is no reason the entire country cannot make significant strides towards decarceration,” Archer told Newsweek in an email. “It is entirely possible to reduce incarceration and crime at the same time. But, it will require national leadership.… It would require a president and federal government committed to getting smarter about how we achieve criminal justice.”
Michigan, Illinois set to usher in recreational pot sales – Because it makes SENSE! – kra
Just a matter of time until all states do the right thing!
Excerpts from the Article:
James Daly is eager to make marijuana history on Sunday, when he plans to open the doors to Arbors Wellness, beckon the lengthy line outside and legally start selling recreational pot for the first time in the Midwest.
“We’ve worked very hard to be prepared,” said Daly, who owns the medical dispensary that, for now, is among just six shops in Michigan — mostly in Ann Arbor — also approved to start selling for adult use in December. The business is doubling staff and has fielded calls from potential customers across the state along with neighboring Ohio and Indiana.
“The end of prohibition is historic,” he said. “We wanted to rip the Band-Aid off.”
Both Michigan and Illinois, which allows sales starting on Jan. 1, are officially joining nine other states that broadly allow marijuana sales. Companies are rushing to complete renovations at dispensaries, expand their growing facilities, and get staff hired and trained.
The Midwestern states’ launch into the potentially lucrative recreational market comes at a turbulent time for the industry, which has been rocked by layoffs, the vaping health scare and investor disappointment with Canada’s marijuana program.
In both states, a limited number of businesses have received state licenses letting them sell recreational products initially. But those same retailers must keep enough product on hand to supply people certified as patients under medical marijuana laws. The conditions are “almost a guarantee” that Illinois and Michigan customers will experience long lines, product shortages and potentially high prices in the early stages, said Adam Orens, co-founder of the Marijuana Policy Group.
“They’ve got to get through the growing pains to get a system implemented,” he said. Taking marijuana from a small cutting to dried flower ready to be sold or transformed into edible gummies or oils takes months.
In Michigan, where voters legalized recreational pot just over a year ago, regulators who began accepting license applications Nov. 1 are aiding the transition by letting medical growers, processors and dispensaries transfer up to half their products to the recreational side under certain conditions.
But marijuana is unlikely to be more broadly available until more businesses become licensed and additional communities authorize sales.
More than 1,400 of Michigan’s nearly 1,800 cities, townships and villages are not allowing recreational businesses. Even Detroit, home to the most medical dispensaries in the state, has delayed recreational sales until at least Jan. 31.
“This is brand new for a lot of municipalities. I think it’s important that they are doing their due diligence and taking an approach that honors the will of their people,” said Andrew Brisbo, executive director of the Marijuana Regulatory Agency, which has awarded 18 licenses and approved 78 pre-qualification applications.
In Illinois, seven months will have separated Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s signing of legislation permitting people 21 and older to buy and possess marijuana and the start of sales in January. The first round of applications is limited to existing medical marijuana retailers, and about 30 are newly licensed to sell recreational products. More could be approved before January.
Most of the state’s licensed cultivation companies are expanding their space to meet higher demand for marijuana products. But that work takes time, too. Mark de Souza, CEO of the state’s largest marijuana producer Revolution Global, said he has heard from dispensary operators “panicked” that they could have empty shelves within months of adult sales beginning. But he believes the overall structure Illinois’ law created will become the industry’s “gold standard.”
“You’re going to ensure everything from compliance to truth in labeling to taxes to consumer safety,” he said. “We don’t think any short-term supply issues are going to be harmful.”
Still, retailers are considering appointment-based systems rather than lining up customers in winter weather. Others have retrofitted their dispensaries to let medical patients in one door and recreational customers in another, hoping to limit confusion if their product supplies run low.
Opioid crisis leaves Americans seeking alternative options for pain relief – and how doctors were prosecuted! – kra
This is an interesting reminder of the abject failure of our War on Drugs … opioids everywhere. But this article discusses the fast growing alternatives to pain pills, holistic medicine, with treatments like message and meditation, acupuncture hypnotism, and more.
There has been an interesting and awful consequence of this, and I am now helping some physicians who were doing just this – practicing holistic medicine. I won’t name names here, or even the state in which they were practicing, but here is what happened: they were so successful that word spread in their community, and before long they were “stealing” patients from other doctors and hospitals – the “powers that be” in their area of the state. Upset by the loss of revenue, these doctors and corporations had connections with the federal prosecutor in their district, and they got him to charge several doctors with trumped up charges, crimes! Several went to prison …. innocent doctors!
Well, Dr. L, one of the targeted doctors, found me, told me the story, and I now have both sleeves rolled up to help Dr. L get a Pardon and to address issues for some of the other doctors, and get them out of prison. The whole tale is a tragedy of “follow the money”, and when I get further into it, you’d better believe I shall try to get that federal prosecutor disbarred, and arrested if possible!
Excerpts from the Article:
After more than 700,000 overdose deaths in 20 years, Americans are sadly familiar with our nation’s opioid epidemic.
In looking to the source of the problem, experts have blamed aggressive marketing by manufacturers and over-prescribing by doctors. But according to Dr. Alexis LaPietra, chief of pain management and addiction medicine at St. Joseph’s Health in Paterson, there is another cause: forgetfulness. As a country, she says, we’ve been here before. “During the Civil War, we weren’t doing a good job of treating pain, but there was a lot of morphine, so everyone got a lot of it,” she says. “It started with soldiers, then housewives, and then the man with a headache got it. Doctors forgot the catastrophe that comes from liberal opioid prescribing.”
While opioids — narcotics such morphine and oxycodone — play an important role in treating acute, uncontrolled pain, LaPietra says, “They should be the last line of intervention in pain management. We should entertain everything else first.”
The search for a better way to treat chronic pain has led many people to turn to holistic medicine for relief. Defined by the Academy of Integrative Health and Medicine as “the art and science of healing that addresses care of the whole person,” holistic pain management involves treating the body and mind together.
Holistic practitioners believe that while patients are free to see their regular doctors, integrating physical therapy, massage, chiropractic, acupuncture and other procedures achieves best results in a majority of cases. It’s a conclusion patients are coming to, as well; according to the National Institutes of Health, a third of Americans seek help for their health in a place that’s outside their doctor’s office, and the trend seems to be on the rise.
To diagnose and treat pain, Evan Chait, owner of Kinetic PT in Ramsey, Park Ridge and Paramus, believes in an all-of-the-above approach. A physical therapist, acupuncturist, nutritionist and herbalists, he asks clients a series of questions and puts them through simple tests looking for clues to find the source of their pain. In one, he has patients stand with their feet together and eyes closed. “The side they move to is the deficient side,” he says. “If one part of the body is out of position, the whole body is.” he says.
He also looks for poor positioning of the jaw, pelvis, shoulders and other parts of the body. “You can have pain, but the source isn’t necessarily what you think,” he says. “You might have an injury to your left shoulder, and over time, the nerve becomes sensitized, the pain grows and it travels up to your neck and down to your elbow.”
What clients put into their bodies is also important. “Arthritis doesn’t have to be painful, but if you inflame it by eating gluten, it can be,” he says.
And because one problem area often creates another, an inflamed gut might lead to a misalignment of the diaphragm.
Stress has long been recognized as a source of physical ailments including headaches, chest pains and upset stomachs. “Our bodies undergo several powerful internal changes when we are under stress,” says Dr. Sally Nazari, a psychotherapist and holistic health practitioner based in Closter. “Adrenaline pours into our bloodstream, preparing us to fight off the potential danger of the stressor, and muscles throughout the body tense in anticipation of the challenge… We generate more muscle tension than we need in most situations.”
The way to reverse this process, she says, is by engaging the parasympathetic nervous system — the “rest and digest” system that slows the heart rate and relaxes muscles. “We tend to notice our tension only when the pain level increases to the point where we can no longer ignore it,” says Nazari. “Relaxation is an essential skill.” To beef up that skill, she guides clients in mindfulness meditation, which trains them to empty thoughts and breathe deeply, and progressive muscle relaxation, which calls for consciously tightening and relaxing muscle groups. Other practices that slow the body down and encourage relaxation include guided imagery (focusing on a calming image) and yoga (combining breathing techniques and meditation with movement).
Caryn Bregman, a physical therapist who owns Renaissance Physical Therapy Arts + Wellness in Montclair, helps clients get moving again after injuries and long-term pain using ice for inflammation, massage, re-positioning and take-home exercises. But she keeps her eyes open for red flags signaling that more is needed, she says.
If clients say that their pain wakes them up in the middle of the night, if they experience sustained weight loss or they’ve just had an acute sports injury, she’ll send them to a doctor for an MRI. In most cases, though, she says, it isn’t necessary.
What’s needed, she says, is “more education for patients so they’re attuned to what’s happening in their bodies, and they don’t get dependent on pain medication. Painkillers are more like band aids.”
Federal addiction treatment dollars off-limits for marijuana
This is another problem posed by the federal criminalization of marijuana. Many experts say pot can help beat opioid addiction, and all scientists agree pot is preferable to opioids for pain treatment.
Excerpts from the Article:
The U.S. government is barring federal dollars meant for opioid addiction treatment to be used on medical marijuana. The move is aimed at states that allow marijuana for medical uses, particularly those letting patients with opioid addiction use pot as a treatment, said Dr. Elinore McCance-Katz, whose federal agency doles out money to states for treatment programs.
“There’s zero evidence for that,” McCance-Katz said. “We felt that it was time to make it clear we did not want individuals receiving funds for treatment services to be exposed to marijuana and somehow given the impression that it’s a treatment.”
It’s the latest example of the legal standoff between federal and state governments on marijuana. While cannabis is considered an illegal drug by federal officials, 33 states allow patients, with a doctor’s approval, to use it for medical purposes. About a dozen allow recreational use, too.
The new restriction applies to the federal government’s two main grant programs for opioid treatment and an older grant program that supports state efforts to treat alcoholism and drug addiction. The rule affects billions of dollars from the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
Last week, federal officials held a phone call with state officials to spell out the restriction: Grant money can’t be used to directly or indirectly buy marijuana or permit treatment with pot. The rule also applies to using marijuana to treat mental health disorders.
Addiction treatment programs must document their efforts to urge patients to stop if they are currently using marijuana for mental health disorders or addiction, or the programs risk losing federal money, McCance-Katz said.
Each state decides which ailments are on their medical marijuana lists. Many allow patients, with a doctor’s approval, to use it for chronic pain and symptoms of multiple sclerosis, where there is good scientific evidence. Other states have approved health conditions with less scientific backing, like post-traumatic stress disorder or anxiety, swayed by firsthand experience from residents.
The evidence that marijuana helps some patients use fewer opioids comes from anecdotal reports or surveys of drug users, which is not the type of research that can prove cause and effect. Earlier this year, a study shot down the notion that medical marijuana laws can prevent opioid overdose deaths, challenging a favorite talking point of legal pot advocates.
Yet, the ongoing overdose crisis has caused New York, New Jersey and other states to turn to marijuana on the premise that pot “is far less risky than injecting heroin or fentanyl, so why not try it?” said Leo Beletsky, a public health policy expert at Northeastern University in Boston.
In 2018, Pennsylvania became the first state to add opioid use disorder to its medical marijuana list. Gov. Tom Wolf, in an announcement of the decision, also designated eight universities to conduct research on marijuana’s use for that and other medical conditions.
It is too early to tell if the new federal rule will affect care, said Rachel Kostelac, spokeswoman for Pennsylvania’s Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs. “But we will continue to monitor to ensure individuals are receiving appropriate treatment to combat the opioid epidemic.”
New Mexico, which added opioid use disorder in June, determined that no federal money was going toward marijuana-related treatment, said David Morgan, spokesman for the state’s Department of Health.
Michael Bloomberg launches Democratic presidential bid
It looks like he’s serious … in it to win it! I don’t think it is fair, wise, or reasonable to say things like “He should not buy his way in”, though that does appeal to the envy of the masses. The fact is that he is a proven DOER, with a record of success in many areas. He just happens to have a boatload of money.
You know that I suggest that money be taken out of politics ENTIRELY. We need a federal law that nobody can spend more than x amount of money ($200,000?) for any national office, whether via donations, their own money, PACs, or any other source! Citizens United is one of the MAJOR idiotic rulings of the Supreme Court! The result is obvious: money is poisoning the electoral process.
Why is this article here? Because he’s on the right track with criminal justice, and because he could beat tRump, who is such a disaster for criminal justice!
Excerpts from the Article:
Billionaire and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, one of the world’s richest men, has formally launched a Democratic bid for president. Ending weeks of speculation, the 77-year-old former Republican announced his candidacy Sunday in a written statement posted on a campaign website describing himself as uniquely positioned to defeat President Donald Trump. He will quickly follow with a massive advertising campaign blanketing airways in key primary states across the U.S.
“I’m running for president to defeat Donald Trump and rebuild America,” Bloomberg wrote.
“We cannot afford four more years of President Trump’s reckless and unethical actions,” he continued. “He represents an existential threat to our country and our values. If he wins another term in office, we may never recover from the damage.”
As a centrist with deep ties to Wall Street, Bloomberg is expected to struggle among the party’s energized progressive base. He became a Democrat only last year. Yet his tremendous resources and moderate profile could be appealing in a primary contest that has become, above all, a quest to find the person best-positioned to deny Trump a second term next November.
Forbes ranked Bloomberg as the 11th-richest person in the world last year with a net worth of roughly $50 billion. Trump, by contrast, was ranked 259th with a net worth of just over $3 billion. His businesses — among them are financial data services and news services in various formats — employ more than 19,000 people in 69 countries. They are also certain to raise ethical questions about how his news-oriented businesses will cover the campaign and financial conflicts of interest for a possible presidency.
Already, Bloomberg has vowed to spend at least $150 million of his fortune on various pieces of a 2020 campaign, including more than $100 million for internet ads attacking Trump, between $15 million and $20 million on a voter registration drive largely targeting minority voters, and more than $30 million on an initial round of television ads.
He did not say how much he would be willing to spend overall on his presidential ambitions, but senior adviser Howard Wolfson did: “Whatever it takes to defeat Donald Trump.”
Wolfson also said that Bloomberg would not accept a single political donation for his campaign or take a salary should he become president.
Even before the announcement was final, Democratic rivals like Bernie Sanders pounced on Bloomberg’s plans to rely on his personal fortune. “We do not believe that billionaires have the right to buy elections,” Sanders said as he campaigned in New Hampshire on Sunday. He continued: “That is why multibillionaires like Mr. Bloomberg are not going to get very far in this election.”
Elizabeth Warren, another leading progressive candidate, also slammed Bloomberg on Saturday for trying to buy the presidency. “I understand that rich people are going to have more shoes than the rest of us, they’re going to have more cars than the rest of us, they’re going to have more houses,” she said after a campaign stop in Manchester, New Hampshire. “But they don’t get a bigger share of democracy, especially in a Democratic primary. We need to be doing the face-to-face work that lifts every voice.”
Bloomberg does not speak in his announcement video, which casts him as a successful businessman who came from humble roots and ultimately “put his money where his heart is” to effect change on the top policy issues of the day — gun violence, climate change, immigration and equality, among them.
Bloomberg has devoted tens of millions of dollars to pursue his policy priorities in recent years, producing measurable progress in cities and states across America. He has helped shutter 282 coal plants in the United States and organized a coalition of American cities on track to cut 75 million metric tons of carbon emissions by 2025.
Still, he has endeared himself to many of the nation’s mayors, having made huge investments to help train local officials and encouraging them to take action on climate, guns and immigration in particular.
Bloomberg plans to bypass the first four states on the primary calendar — Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina — and focus instead on the crush of states that vote on Super Tuesday and beyond. It’s a strategy that acknowledges the limitations of entering the race at this late stage and the opportunities afforded by his vast personal wealth.
He explored a run earlier this year, too, but decided there was no path with establishment-favorite Joe Biden in the race. Biden’s perceived weakness, along with the rise of progressive firebrand Warren, convinced him to reconsider.
Biden, lone top 2020 Democrat to oppose federal marijuana legalization, cites ‘gateway drug’ concern – With Letter to Editor – kra PUBLISHED
UPDATE: My Letter was PUBLISHED on page 4 of the Delaware State News of 11/25/19.
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Wow. He lost my vote! I have known Joe Biden since we both were young lawyers in Delaware in the ’70s, and I used to think he’d be ok for president, with all the experience he got as Obama’s VP. Not anymore.
He says that his concern is that marijuana needs more research because he thinks it a “gateway drug”. That opinion is ill-informed, outdated, and flat-out harmful to many citizens. He says things like: “there has not been nearly enough evidence acquired as to whether or not it’s a gateway drug.” Absurd! Marijuana probably is the most studied drug – legal or illegal – on the planet!
At this point we are well aware of some of its significant medicinal benefits, which is why 33 states and D.C. allow medical marijuana! We also know that it damages growing brain cells, so it should not be allowed for minors. I have read literally thousands of reports and articles about marijuana, and there is not one credible report that it is a “gateway drug”! Not one! Yet it is classified by federal law right in there with heroin and other killer drugs! That law is nothing less than insane, and should be changed… the very change Biden says he opposes.
To his credit, Biden says things like “anyone incarcerated for marijuana should be released and criminal records should be expunged of any marijuana charges”. But this, along with his opposition to legalization, just makes him look like and old-time politician, “talking out of both sides of his mouth”, trying to please everyone!
READ my Letter, Below!
Excerpts from the Article:
Former Vice President Joe Biden said Saturday that more study is needed to determine whether marijuana is “a gateway drug,” making him the only one of the leading Democratic presidential primary candidates to oppose legalization on the federal level.
Biden – who said in 2010, “I still believe it’s a gateway drug,” and “legalization is a mistake” – was asked at a town hall in Las Vegas if his position had changed.
“No, it hasn’t changed,” Biden said. He explained that although he supports allowing states to determine their own marijuana policies, “the truth of the matter is, there has not been nearly enough evidence acquired as to whether or not it’s a gateway drug.”
Though Biden opposes legalization on the federal level, he said anyone incarcerated for marijuana should be released and criminal records should be expunged of any marijuana charges. He supports removing marijuana from the list of Schedule 1 drugs, which says it has no medical use, to Schedule III, which would make it easier to research.
Biden’s stance contrasts with most other Democratic candidates who seek the nomination from voters who heavily favor legalization. According to a poll from the Pew Research Center that was released Thursday, 78% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents say marijuana should be legal.
Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont vowed to legalize marijuana by executive order in his first 100 days if he is elected president. Sanders is a co-sponsor of a bill, along with fellow 2020 candidates Sens. Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris, Cory Booker and Michael Bennet, that would make marijuana legal and expunge criminal records.
South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, who acknowledged last month that he used pot a “handful of times a long time ago,” favors total legalization and the expungement of records. He opposes incarceration for the possession of any drug.
Eleven states and the District of Columbia have approved the use of recreational marijuana, and 33 states allow the use of medical marijuana. Fifteen states have decriminalized marijuana possession.
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Letter to the Editor or Commentary/ Op Ed Submission – 11/21/19 – Biden is greatly off base about Marijuana – kra
Wow. He lost my vote! I have known Joe Biden since we both were young lawyers in Delaware in the ’70s, and I used to think he’d be ok for president, with all the experience he got as Obama’s VP. Not anymore, due to his stance on federal marijuana law!
He says that his concern is that marijuana needs more research because he thinks it a “gateway drug”. That opinion is ill-informed, outdated, and flat-out harmful to many citizens. He says things like: “there has not been nearly enough evidence acquired as to whether or not it’s a gateway drug.” Absurd! Marijuana probably is the most studied drug – legal or illegal – on the planet!
At this point we are well aware of some of its significant medicinal benefits, which is why 33 states and D.C. allow medical marijuana! We also know that it damages growing brain cells, so it should not be allowed for minors. I have read literally thousands of reports and articles about marijuana, and there is not one credible report that it is a “gateway drug”! Not one! Yet it is classified by federal law right in there with heroin and other killer drugs! That law is nothing less than insane, and should be changed… the very change Biden says he opposes.
To his credit, Biden says things like “anyone incarcerated for marijuana should be released and criminal records should be expunged of any marijuana charges”. But this, along with his opposition to legalization, just makes him look like an old-time politician, “talking out of both sides of his mouth”, trying to please everyone!
The federal criminalization of pot is a cause of much injustice ( federal law enforcement agencies continue to imprison thousands of people for possession of marijuana!) , and it wreaks havoc with laws and policies in states with legal marijuana. The situation is so crazy that governments are trying to dance around those problems with measures like “Safe Banking Acts”! It’s nuts … a very costly mistake!
And the revenue! Colorado alone now takes in more than a BILLION dollars annually from taxing marijuana! It has taken in more than $6 billion in total sales of cannabis since the birth of the new industry — over $6.5 billion at the end of May, according to just-released monthly data from the state, and created tens of thousands of new jobs. And that is just one state!
Yes, we need more study of the benefits and drawbacks of pot, now greatly hindered by its federal criminalization (research hospitals and universities are afraid their employees may be arrested), but there is nothing to show that pot is a gateway drug!
Joe! Don’t do this to yourself! Change your stance on this important issue!
Ken Abraham, founder of Citizens for Criminal JUSTICE, former Deputy Attorney General, Dover, DE 302-423-4067
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I get lots of letters published, and ghost write for others. The keys to getting your Letter published are:
1. Keep it to 250 words or fewer.
2. Do not make it about “poor little old me”. Describe the problem as one which not only affects the individual, but is a senseless or ineffective measure, policy, or law which also harms communities and society. For example, with reentry, the obstacles make it unnecessarily difficult for the individual, but also harm society by making it hard to become productive, spending money and paying taxes in the community, and they cause increased recidivism = increased crime.
3. Speak from your heart.
4. Google any facts you are not sure about.
5. Do not name-call.
Do what works: Write that Letter! 🙂
…………
Letter to Editor – sign name, town, state, and your phone number (they often call to verify that you sent it), and “Member of Citizens for Criminal JUSTICE” if you like – shows you are part of a large group.
Send the email to yourself, and put on the “bcc” bar the email addresses for Letters to the Editor for the top ten newspapers in your state and several national ones – The New York Times, Chicago Tribune, U S A Today (google the Letter to Editor email addresses). Any questions, CALL me at 302-423-4067! 🙂
Need a Letter on some criminal justice issue and not a great letter writer? NO EXCUSE! Email me a rough draft and call me and I’ll polish it up! kenabraham3138@gmail.com .
Colorado passes $1 billion in marijuana state revenue – Super! – kra
Get with it, every state without legal pot! Colorado has made A BILLION $$$$ from taxing pot! That is HUGE! 🙂
Excerpts from the Article:
Colorado has now generated more than $1 billion in total state revenue from the legal marijuana industry, another milestone for the state that legalized cannabis in 2014.
Colorado already has posted some big numbers: More than $6 billion in total sales of cannabis since the birth of the new industry — over $6.5 billion at the end of May, according to just-released monthly data from the state. And the state’s revenue from adult-use marijuana sales has accelerated.
April and May were the two highest-grossing months in the five-year history of the new industry, with Colorado revenue reaching its highest monthly take ever in April (which includes the 420 holiday), at roughly $24.2 million. The state’s legal marijuana sales revenue doubling from the $500 million mark to $1 billion ($1,017,120,136 exactly) took under two years, while getting to $500 million took close to three and a half years. Since July 2017, Colorado total monthly tax and fee revenue from marijuana sales has never dipped below $20 million. In February 2014, the first month with sales tracking data, total state revenue was $3.5 million.
At CNBC’s recent Net Net event held in Denver on May 1, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis said, “It’s going very well. … It’s creating tens of thousands of jobs, tax revenue for the state, filling up buildings for landlords and reducing crime. … Although I like to tell my peer governors in other states ‘It’s not going well, don’t do it.’ There is obviously more advantage to us when we are all a little bit more special, and obviously more and more states are moving in this direction.”
Illinois recently became the 11th U.S. state to approve cannabis for recreational adult use, joining the state of Washington, Alaska, Colorado, California, Maine, Massachusetts, Oregon, Vermont, Michigan and Nevada. Washington, D.C., also has legal marijuana sales. The Illinois law will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2020.
Illinois became the second state after Vermont to legalize marijuana through its legislature rather than a voter referendum. Democratic governor J.B. Pritzker endorsed the policy as a way to help shore up a state that is in fiscal crisis. His budget proposal for the year starting July includes an estimated $170 million from the sale of marijuana producer licenses.
More than 30 states already have medical marijuana use.
Recreational marijuana was legalized by California voters in November 2016, but its marijuana industry is struggling to compete with the black market and is facing challenges that include banking access and high taxes. Last month the California governor’s new state budget plan slashed cannabis tax revenue projections by $223 million.
Lack of access to banking options led California’s senate to approve state-chartered cannabis banks to help the industry get around restrictions on access to banking services. The federal government also is considering the SAFE Banking Act.
Colorado Gov. Polis told CNBC’s Scott Cohn that its first mover advantage in the cannabis business will be key to developing a much broader economic engine for the state than just tax revenue on marijuana sales. “We are always going to be relatively small potatoes on the actual sales. … We are just not going to be as big as states like California or New Jersey. … We want to make sure that 10 years from now, point-of-sales systems, chemistry, genetics — all those pieces — are housed here in Colorado with successful companies that power a multibillion national industry.”
Colorado has 2,917 licensed marijuana businesses and 41,076 individuals who are licensed to work in the industry.
More than 30 states already have medical marijuana use.
Recreational marijuana was legalized by California voters in November 2016, but its marijuana industry is struggling to compete with the black market and is facing challenges that include banking access and high taxes. Last month the California governor’s new state budget plan slashed cannabis tax revenue projections by $223 million.
Support the Delaware ACLU – and the ACLU in YOUR Area! – kra
All of these are good ideas, and badly needed to curb injustice.
Just Announced:
2020 Legislative Priorities for the Coalition for Smart Justice
We made historic progress in criminal justice reform this year. From expanding access to second chances to reforming the drug code and more, there’s a lot to be proud of! But our work isn’t done yet. You helped us get this far, so we wanted you to be the first to know about our priorities for the 2020 half of this legislative session.
Next year, we’ll be tackling these key issues:
Fines, Fees & Drivers’ License Suspensions
We want to end the criminalization of poverty that traps people in a punitive cycle by allowing the court to consider a person’s ability to pay court fines and fees, and ending the practice of automatic suspension of drivers’ licenses where someone is unable to pay.
Data Collection & Transparency – Collect and publish data to understand racial disparities, measure policy impacts and inform better policy choices.
Sentencing Reform – Eliminate most mandatory minimums and expand opportunities for sentence modification and early release.
Pretrial Reform – Reduce the number of people in prison before they’ve been convicted of a crime and ensure fairness through the pre-trial process from arrest to trial.
Probation Reform – End the revolving door to prison by implementing post-release policies that promote success after incarceration.
Treating Children as Children – House all children in juvenile facilities and increase the minimum age at which children can be prosecuted criminally.
Stay up-to-date on our work by following us on Twitter and Facebook, and keeping an eye out for emails as they come through.
We can’t wait to make more history with you as we continue to work toward our goal of ending mass incarceration and challenging the racial disparities in Delaware’s criminal justice system!
ACLU: 302-654-5326 ext. 106, 100 W. 10th Street, Suite 706, Wilmington, DE, 19801
www.aclu-de.org
My Little Statue Tells the Sad Tale! – kra
Just read so many of the articles on my website, field just a few of the calls I get every week, to realize the sad truth of My Little Statue, below!
Raise some hell about it. Here is How: READ Practical Tip – Get Empowered! How YOU Can Create a Powerful, Effective Force for Reform of our Criminal Justice System
Contact Us
Citizens for Criminal JUSTICE
430 Kings Hwy
Ste 414
Dover DE 19901
302.423.4067
