Pot-running Arizona granny gets 3 years

[cynatnite]

SIERRA VISTA, Ariz. - A 62-year-old grandmother who prosecutors said ran drugs to support her bingo habit has been sentenced to three years in prison and a $150,000 fine.

Acting on a tip, state police stopped Leticia Villareal Garcia near Bisbee in southeast Arizona in February 2005 and found 214 pounds of marijuana stuffed into the trunk of her car.

Garcia has maintained her innocence, telling the judge at her sentencing Friday that she was unaware of the grass as she headed for a bingo game.

snip:
Garcia said she often played bingo, occasionally winning several thousand dollars at a sitting, although her only regular income was a $275 monthly welfare check she received for caring for a granddaughter.

"The underlying issue is that she's got a bingo problem, which explains why an otherwise nice person might get sucked into something like this," prosecutor Doyle Johnstun told the jury.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070128/ap_on_fe_st/grandma_pot

[Syrinx]

1. I support legalization

But 214 pounds of weed to support a bingo habit? I think Granny is shitting me.

[GreenTea]

2. People are getting big time jail sentences for pot cultivation all over the country.

A lot in California!

[ntesla]

3. As a non-smoker..

.. and a non-drinker I believe the drug war is full of B.S. We should save our tax dollars for real issues like rehabilitation & education.

http://www.nevergetbusted.com/

[Warren DeMontague]

5. I've been sober for years

I can attest to how dangerous alcohol can be. Strongest thing I do these days is caffeine.

But prohibition is a fucking waste of time. Didn't work for booze, doesn't work for drugs. We need to stop pissing away $40 Trillion a year (plus the cost of incarcerating all those non-violent offenders) plug money, as you say, into treatment and honest education--- if you tell kids that pot will get them date raped or make their testicles fall off, they aren't going to believe you when you tell them about truly dangerous drugs, like meth.

$40 Billion a year could fund a lot of that. Plus, if pot were legal, regulated, and taxed, it would be a huge boon for the economy.

[Warren DeMontague]

4. All Right! Our tax dollars at work.

Futilely trying to keep a relatively benign substance out of the hands of consumers who choose to use it. Great!