analysis of MARIJUANA AND INCARCERATION: (0.75763 secs.)
MARIJUANA AND INCARCERATION
Federal marijuana investigations and prosecutions usually involve
hundreds of pounds of marijuana. Few defendants are incarcerated
in federal prison for simple possession of marijuana.
o In 2008, according to the United States Sentencing Commission
(USSC), 25,337 people were sentenced in federal court for drug
crimes under six offense categories. Marijuana accounted for
6,337 (25 percent). Looking even further, of the 6,337 people
sentenced, only 99 people or 1.6 percent, were sentenced for
"simple possession" of marijuana.193
o According to a Bureau of Justice Statistics survey of state
and federal prisoners published in October 2006, approximately
12.7 percent of state prisoners and 12.4 percent of federal
prisoners were serving time for a marijuana-related offense.
This is a decrease from 1997 when these figures were 12.9 percent
and 18.9 percent respectively.194
o Between October 1, 2005 and September 30, 2006, there were
6,423 federal offenders sentenced for marijuana-related charges
in the U.S. Courts. Approximately 95.9 percent of the cases
involved trafficking.195
o In Fiscal Year 2006, there were 25,814 offenders sentenced
in federal court on drug charges. Of those, only 1.6 percent
(406 people) were sentenced for simple possession.196
o According to ONDCP, "Many inmates ultimately sentenced for
marijuana and possession were initially charged with more serious
crimes but were able to negotiate reduced charges or lighter
sentences through plea agreements with prosecutors. Therefore
the ...figure for simple possession defendants may give an
inflated impression of the true numbers, since it also includes
these inmates who pled down from more serious charges." 197 33
.......
o While illicit drugs are implicated in three-quarters of
incarcerations (75.9 percent), few inmates are incarcerated for
marijuana possession as their controlling or only offense.
Inmates incarcerated in federal and state prisons and local jails
for marijuana possession as the controlling offenses accounted
for 1.1 percent of all inmates and 4.4 percent of those incarcerated
for drug law violations. Those incarcerated for marijuana
possession as their only offense accounted for .9 percent of all
inmates and 2.9 percent those incarcerated for drug law
violations.198 o Findings from the 2008 Arrestee Drug Abuse
Monitoring System (ADAM II), which surveys drug use among booked
male arrestees in ten major metropolitan areas across the country,
shows the majority of arrestees in each city test positive for
illicit drug use, with as many as 87 percent of arrestees testing
positive for an illegal drug. Marijuana is the most commonly
detected drug at the time of the arrest. In seven of the ten
sites arrestees who are using marijuana are using it on the
average of every other day for the past 30 days.199
summary: drug_related = 100%, drugwar_propaganda = 100%, incarceration = 100%
I thought the text was interesting because of these details:
analysis of article text
incarceration/prison mentioned? yes .
propaganda analysis
asserted: $drug_related at 100% ($prohibition_agency $illegal_drugs) asserted: $drugwar_propaganda at 100% ($propaganda_theme2 $propaganda_theme3 $propaganda_theme4) asserted: $propaganda_theme2 at 100% ("drug crimes" "crimes"), 3 hits asserted: $propaganda_theme3 at 65% ("the country"), 1 hits asserted: $use_is_abuse at 100% ("Drug Abuse" "drug use" "marijuana possession" "possession of marijuana" "Abuse"), 8 hits asserted: $propaganda_theme4 at 100% ($use_is_abuse) asserted: $illegal_drugs at 100% ($cannabis $various_illegal_drugs) asserted: $drugs at 95% ($various_drugs) asserted: $drug_law at 100% ("drug law"), 2 hits asserted: $prohibition_agency at 100% ("prosecutors" $drug_propaganda_agency), 1 hits asserted: $drug_propaganda_agency at 100% ("ONDCP"), 1 hits asserted: $plants at 100% ($cannabis) asserted: $intoxicant at 100% ($cannabis) asserted: $cannabis at 100% ("MARIJUANA" "marijuana-related"), 14 hits asserted: $various_drugs at 95% ("drug" "drugs"), 11 hits asserted: $various_illegal_drugs at 100% ("drug law" "illicit drugs" "illicit drug" "illegal drug" "Drug Abuse" "drug charges"), 7 hits asserted: $incarceration at 100% ("jails" "prison" "prisoners" "prisons" "INCARCERATION" "incarcerated" "incarcerations" "inmates"), 20 hits
Sentence-By-Sentence Analysis
(1) MARIJUANA AND INCARCERATION Federal marijuana investigations and prosecutions usually involve hundreds of pounds of marijuana .
re: "INCARCERATION" -
Simple possession of drugs at home already carries a harsher penalty then endangering lives through drunk driving,
and in 1990 the governor of Alabama demanded that any marijuana user be imprisoned for one year.
(Richard L Miller, Drug Warriors and their Prey, pg.72)
(2) Few defendants are incarcerated in federal prison for simple possession of marijuana. o In 2008, according to the United States Sentencing Commission (USSC), 25,337 people were sentenced in federal court for drug crimes under six offense categories .
re: "drug crimes", "crimes" -
Drugs, the prohibitionist explains, are a wicked bane on modern man.
If not for the noble drug war (i.e. jailing drug users), exclaims
the propagandist, then people will run amok, and violence, death, psychosis,
and plague shall cover the land.
(Madness Crime Violence Illness (propaganda theme 2) )
re: "possession of marijuana" -
Prohibition propaganda claims that all use of any "drug" is abuse.
(Use is Abuse (propaganda theme 4) )
re: "prison", "incarcerated" -
In 1992 the federal minimum sentence for LSD possession was 10.1 years (first offense).
Compare to the maximum sentences for the following first offenses: rape 7.2 years,
kidnaping 5.2 years, theft of $80 million 5.2 years.
(Richard L Miller, Drug Warriors and their Prey, 1996, pg.73)
(4) Looking even further, of the 6,337 people sentenced, only 99 people or 1.6 percent, were sentenced for "simple possession" of marijuana.193 o According to a Bureau of Justice Statistics survey of state and federal prisoners published in October 2006, approximately 12.7 percent of state prisoners and 12.4 percent of federal prisoners were serving time for a marijuana-related offense .
re: "prisoners" -
"Torture is commonly used. It not just at Guantanamo and similar offshore
hellholes. It happens across America in federal, state and local prisons
where inmates are terrorized by dogs, shocked with cattle prods, burned by
toxic chemicals, harmed by stun guns, beaten, stripped naked, raped, and abused
in other ways." (Stephen Lendman, 10/2011)
(8) Of those, only 1.6 percent (406 people) were sentenced for simple possession.196 o According to ONDCP, "Many inmates ultimately sentenced for marijuana and possession were initially charged with more serious crimes but were able to negotiate reduced charges or lighter sentences through plea agreements with prosecutors .
re: "crimes" -
It is prohibition, claim prohibitionists, that saves people from drug crazed,
whacked out, high flying drug users.
(Madness Crime Violence Illness (propaganda theme 2) )
re: "prosecutors" -
"for other people, this would be wrong,
but because I have the best interests of my followers at heart,
it's ok for me to...."
-- How Power Corrupts Leaders, Ronald E. Riggio
re: "inmates" -
In 1991 the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the reasonableness of mandatory life imprisonment for simple
possession of drugs. Indeed, the law considers drug offenses to be worse than murder.
(Richard L Miller, Drug Warriors and their Prey, 1996, pg.72)
(9) Therefore the ...figure for simple possession defendants may give an inflated impression of the true numbers, since it also includes these inmates who pled down from more serious charges." 197 33 ....... o While illicit drugs are implicated in three-quarters of incarcerations (75.9 percent), few inmates are incarcerated for marijuana possession as their controlling or only offense .
re: "marijuana possession" -
"This strategy equates the use and abuse of drugs and implies that
it is impossible to use the particular drug or drugs in question
without physical, mental, and moral deterioration." [W.White,1979]
(Use is Abuse (propaganda theme 4) )
re: "incarcerations", "incarcerated", "inmates" -
"Prison is hell everywhere. America is no different in, by far, the world's
largest gulag. Inmates are treated worse than subhumans."
(Stephen Lendman, 10/2011)
(10) Inmates incarcerated in federal and state prisons and local jails for marijuana possession as the controlling offenses accounted for 1.1 percent of all inmates and 4.4 percent of those incarcerated for drug law violations .
re: "marijuana possession" -
Any use of an illegal drug is deemed to be "abuse," weasels
the propaganda of prohibition. (After all - it is illegal!)
(Use is Abuse (propaganda theme 4) )
re: "jails", "prisons", "incarcerated", "Inmates" -
A drug offender serving a 20-year mandatory minimum sentence had an uncle who was murdered;
the murderer served 7 1/2 years.
(Richard L Miller, Drug Warriors and their Prey, 1996, pgs.72-73)
MAPInc Bookmarks:
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/campaign.htm (ONDCP Media Campaign)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/prison.htm (Incarceration)
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