Trump Slams ‘Very Unfair’ Drug Sentences

This has become a big issue for many of us living in "the land of the free". There is excessive criminalization of people involved in what are arguably victimless drug crimes which could be considered commerce between two consenting adults. We have prisons in this nation that are full to bursting of non-violent drug users who in my estimation are not guilty of any real crime other than perhaps making unwise choices.

We need to seriously examine mandatory sentencing requirements and other zero tolerance type laws that remove the element of justice and fairness from our legal system and create a prison population of non-violent offenders.

I am not saying we let someone that sells drugs to minors or is a major trafficker of other highly addictive and damaging drugs off the hook, however, the majority of those incarcerated for drug crimes simply don't deserve the draconian sentences they are receiving for what are largely statute related crimes and not crimes against person or property.

I am glad we finally have a President that is taking notice of this issue an calling for Congress and those at the State level to make some common sense changes to these drug related sentences. We can't continue to treat drug addiction as a crime that somehow gets people more time in prison that killing someone (in some cases).

I hope the President is able to garner the support to make the changes that will reintroduce fairness to our 'justice' system.

In an interview with Fox News on the morning of his meeting with the rap impresario, Trump signaled that he was ready to go beyond "back end" reform, which focuses on rehabilitation of inmates, and support "front end" reform, which focuses on reducing sentences and sending fewer people to prison. The key to understanding Trump's remarks is Alice Marie Johnson, whose sentence the president commuted in June at the behest of West's wife, Kim Kardashian.

Johnson, a first-time offender who received a life sentence in 1996 for participating in a Memphis coc aine trafficking organization, has described herself as "a telephone mule, passing messages between the distributors and sellers." While serving nearly 22 years in federal prison, she became a grandmother and great-grandmother, an ordained minister, and a mentor to other inmates.

Although it took the intercession of a fellow reality TV star for Trump to free Johnson, he clearly was impressed by her story. More important, he recognizes that Johnson, whom he calls "the most incredible woman," is not unique in receiving an absurdly disproportionate sentence for a nonviolent crime.

Reason.com

There is no such thing as "victimless" when it comes to drug crimes.

It is because of drugs that so many people turn to a life of crime. It ruins lives, it wreaks havoc on the people who use them, and on the innocent bystanders who have to deal with the tragic results.

Drugs are a scourge on human society. And everyone trafficking in them are guilty of bloodshed.

originally posted by: aniceday
There is no such thing as "victimless" when it comes to drug crimes.

It is because of drugs that so many people turn to a life of crime. It ruins lives, it wreaks havoc on the people who use them, and on the innocent bystanders who have to deal with the tragic results.

Drugs are a scourge on human society. And everyone trafficking in them are guilty of bloodshed.

Guess who 'invented' all the drugs you're concerned about?

When the common-sense Dems start to realize Trump isn't really a "Republican" and has some common sense himself and, yes, compassion, then we can all get on with making things better here and there.

He can certainly be moved by pleas that are logical.

a reply to: Metallicus

I’m all for this but there are somethings to consider here. Every drug besides marijuana is deadly. So legalize it and stop the cartels in their tracks from bringing that crap here. May even have a unseen affect on other dangerous drugs coming into the US.
But yes baby steps to get states to realize how to come up with a solution.

The key to understanding Trump's remarks is Alice Marie Johnson, whose sentence the president commuted in June at the behest of West's wife, Kim Kardashian.

Maybe I am reading it wrong, but does he mean new laws for all of us? Or just people who know the Kardashians or have money?

originally posted by: aniceday
There is no such thing as "victimless" when it comes to drug crimes.

It is because of drugs that so many people turn to a life of crime. It ruins lives, it wreaks havoc on the people who use them, and on the innocent bystanders who have to deal with the tragic results.

Drugs are a scourge on human society. And everyone trafficking in them are guilty of bloodshed.

Jeff Sessions? Is that you?

I disagree with your assessment. It is the criminalization of casual drug use and sentencing that ruins more lives. And this is coming from someone who has never used an illegal substance.

My apologies for the double post.

I thought I missed the reply button and it was just an internet burp.

/sigh

a reply to: Sublimecraft

If you mean that some drugs are naturally occurring and thus created by God, that is a given. Many are chemically produced. So man has many of them.

It is interesting to note that the word used for sorcery in the Bible comes from the Greek word pharmakia, and literally translated means druggery.

Just as God created all things. He can also designate the use for them all. Not all plants were created for human use. And the fact that drug-use is so closely related with demonism, and the forbidden should give you the idea of where the practice of illicit drug use got its start, and why it is so harmful. (Of course not all drugs or plants are harmful, or are forbidden to use.)

originally posted by: aniceday
There is no such thing as "victimless" when it comes to drug crimes.

It is because of drugs that so many people turn to a life of crime. It ruins lives, it wreaks havoc on the people who use them, and on the innocent bystanders who have to deal with the tragic results.

Drugs are a scourge on human society. And everyone trafficking in them are guilty of bloodshed.

Ignorant statement of the day. You cannot include all drugs. Alcohol ruins more lives than all drugs combined. MJ does not ruin lives, psychadelics do not ruin lives. I can understand crack, meth, and opioids, but do your research on the rest.

Mandatory minimums should go. Being caught with recreational schedule five narcotics should be made a misdemeanor but require treatment .

Trafficking over $10,000 in. ( i’m not firm on that number )

Heroine and non-prescription opiates

Crack coc aine ( not powder)

Crystal meth

PCP and designer variants

Should face even stronger mandatory minimums .


I know somebody’s going to say everything should be legal. But in my years I’ve watched most of these drugs destroy friends, young adults and teenagers that I know/knew.

It’s not pretty to see and even though you want to help you are almost always completely helpless .

The one weakness I see in my position. Is that when the police catch someone with the fore mentioned recreational drugs. Makes it harder for them to get to the bastards doing all the damage .

a reply to: aniceday

Drugs are a scourge on human society. And everyone trafficking in them are guilty of bloodshed.

You'd be saying the same thing about alcohol, if the government declared it a criminal act.

... Cause and effect.

a reply to: Allaroundyou

The DEA has a whole bundle of statistics. I was recently digging through the numbers and found that since the legalization of marijuana in numerous states, the import of other illicit drugs from across the border has increased.

It doesn't matter what we legalize, the cartels will simply make money off a different product.

A2D

a reply to: Metallicus

Trafficking in drugs, including marijuana has caused untold deaths. Everyone involved in it. From those who traffic it across the border, to those who sell it, to those who buy it. The whole chain, every one of them are all guilty and complicit in the crimes. The money made on drugs is bloodied and cursed, and all those touching that money are cursed, as well as all those who involve themselves in it. They are all of them alike cursed and guilty of the bloodshed it has resulted in. There are no innocents in the illicit and illegal trade of drugs.

a reply to: aniceday

How do you get internet service back there in the 14th century?

Legalize it, and keep it illegal only for non-citizens!

originally posted by: abe froman
a reply to: aniceday

How do you get internet service back there in the 14th century?

If an accomplice of a bank heist is sitting in his car when the robbers shoot the security guard and kills him, he will go to prison and do the same sentence with the rest of them: murder and robbery, will he not?

If they get away and the wife of the driver knows where they went and the FBI questions her and she doesn't give them up she becomes complicit with them in their crimes, does she not?

There are no innocent victims in the eyes of the law. They all become guilty, even if just by association. The same is true with the illicit trafficking of drugs and all of the crimes and torture, and death it has resulted in. No one can claim to be innocent in the eyes of God if they involve themselves in it. And none of them will find themselves enjoying the money they get from it for very long. Their crimes will catch up with them all, every one of them.

Instead of asking such a question that belies a lack* understanding of how things work, you should open your eyes and see what is really going on.

Word on the street is that Sessions (& possibly Rosenstein) will be gone after the mid-terms.

The 'word on the street' kind of grows legs when you consider this, and that Trump's said he is looking at ending the federal ban on marijuana.

I've been asking 'where is Sessions?' the last few months. The man is a ghost, and seemingly, all but gone.

Didn't Sessions submit a resignation letter in May2017 that Trump refused??

originally posted by: Agree2Disagree
a reply to: Allaroundyou

The DEA has a whole bundle of statistics. I was recently digging through the numbers and found that since the legalization of marijuana in numerous states, the import of other illicit drugs from across the border has increased.

It doesn't matter what we legalize, the cartels will simply make money off a different product.

A2D

OHH well that sucks. I didn’t know that. I’ll have to go and look these numbers. You have peaked my curiosity now.