Hillary/Obama should take marijuana out of the mix

[ensho]

if the US decrimed pot there would be an avalanche of countrys doing the same.

cops here, in Mex. and all over the world can concentrate on serious concerns.

private owned prisons would lobby this violently. tough.

money would flow without having to buy a house or car.

farmers could grow industrial hemp and make money! mfgrs. could make reasonably priced products from the hemp and make money!

keeping marijuana in the mix will keep everything static with money and lives going down the drain.

take marijuana out of the mix.

[Taverner]

1. Agree 100%

[Terry in Austin]

2. Our responsibility

Hey, she even said that part of the US responsibility for the problem was "demand for illegal drugs."

Duh! Make 'em legal, no more demand for illegal drugs.

:hippie:

[ensho]

3. kicking back to pg.1 - this is important - other countries should weigh in

time is ticking away.

our earth needs saved now.

[nichomachus]

4. But not out of the brownie mix n/t

[No.23]

5. But who's gonna keep the prisoner industry alive then?

If you can't fill 'em with nonviolent drug users, it'll experience a huge reduction in business.

That wouldn't be fair now, would it?

[tridim]

6. We're just an "online community" and apparently not worth listening to.

I guess we should all stand on old fashioned soap boxes and then our opinion would matter?

I'm not going to trash Obama for something this minor, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed he went there. The "online community" helped get him elected.

[11 Bravo]

7. Alice B. Toklas disagrees.

[slay]

10. LOL! I was just about to say - what, the brownie mix?

:P :smoke:

[whopis01]

8. Absolutely - when those two get together and smoke up, nothing gets done in Washington....

or did you mean something else?

[slay]

9. self delete

posted in wrong place my bad

[dreamnightwind]

11. K & R

It's the incarceration that's the largest part of the problem. Many many otherwise innocent people go to jail for mere possession. It's insane.

[kristopher]

12. Ask and ye shall recieve..

SEN. WEBB’S NATIONAL CRIMINAL JUSTICE COMMISSION ACT OF 2009
March 2009

SUMMARY

The National Criminal Justice Commission Act of 2009, introduced by Senator Jim Webb on
March 26, 2009, will create a blue-ribbon commission charged with undertaking an 18-month, top-
to-bottom review of our entire criminal justice system. Its task will be to propose concrete, wide-
ranging reforms designed to responsibly reduce the overall incarceration rate; improve federal and
local responses to international and domestic gang violence; restructure our approach to drug policy;
improve the treatment of mental illness; improve prison administration; and establish a system for
reintegrating ex-offenders.

WHY THIS LEGISLATION IS URGENTLY NEEDED

• The United States has by far the world’s highest incarceration rate. With five percent of the
world’s population, our country now houses twenty-five percent of the world’s reported
prisoners. More than 2.38 million Americans are now in prison, and another 5 million remain on
probation or parole.

• Our prison population has skyrocketed over the past two decades as we have incarcerated more
people for non-violent crimes and acts driven by mental illness or drug dependence.

• The costs to our federal, state, and local governments of keeping repeat offenders in the criminal
justice system continue to grow during a time of increasingly tight budgets.

• Existing practices too often incarcerate people who do not belong in prison and distract from
locking up the more serious, violent offenders who are a threat to our communities.

• Transnational criminal activity, much of it directed by violent gangs and cartels from Latin
America, Asia and Europe, has permeated the country. Mexican cartels alone now operate in
more than 230 communities across the country.

• Mass incarceration of illegal drug users has not curtailed drug usage. The multi-billion dollar
illegal drugs industry remains intact, with more dangerous drugs continuing to reach our streets.

• Incarceration for drug crimes has had a disproportionate impact on minority communities,
despite virtually identical levels of drug use across racial and ethnic lines.

• Post-incarceration re-entry programs are haphazard and often nonexistent, undermining public
safety and making it extremely difficult for ex-offenders to become full, contributing members of
society.

LEGISLATION: REVIEW AND FINDINGS

The Commission shall review all areas of Federal and State criminal justice practices and make
specific findings, to include an examination of:

• Reasons for increase in the U.S. incarceration rate compared to historical standards
• Incarceration and other policies in similar democratic, western countries
• Prison administration policies, including the availability of pre-employment training programs and
career progression for guards and prison administrators
• Costs of current incarceration policies at the federal, state & local level
• The impact of gang activities, including foreign syndicates
• Drug policy and its impact on incarceration, crime and sentencing
• Policies as they relate to the mentally ill
• The historical role of the military in crime prevention and border security
• Any other area that the Commission deems relevant

LEGISLATION: DUTIES OF THE COMMISSION

The Commission shall make recommendations for policy changes designed to:

• Re-focus incarceration policies to reduce the overall incarceration rate while preserving public
safety, cost-effectiveness, and societal fairness
• Decrease prison violence
• Improve prison administration, including competence & career enhancement of administrators
• Establish meaningful re-entry programs for ex-offenders
• Reform our nation’s drug policies
• Improve treatment of the mentally ill
• Improve responses to international & domestic criminal activity by gangs & cartels
• Reform any other aspect of the system the Commission determines necessary

CO-SPONSORS, SUPPORTERS

The National Criminal Justice Commission Act of 2009 has already garnered wide support from
Senate leadership, the Senate Judiciary Committee, and the Obama Administration.