Hi kids. Today we are going to talk about a taboo subject in this country:
marijuana
and why it is still considered an illegal drug in 2013.
A friend from high school made me aware of a situation going on in Missouri that I find to be quite distrurbing...
(yet we all can do something to help!)
There is a man named Jeff Mizanskey sitting in prison in Missouri where he is serving a life sentence, with no parole, for three nonviolent marijuana charges. He is, in fact, the only Missouri inmate serving a life sentence without parole for nonviolent marijuana offenses. He has no foreseeable way out of prison, despite the fact that he's already served 20 years in the slammer: he's been in jail since 1993.
Why such an extreme sentence? He must be a hardened criminal to have been given a life sentence- you might ask/say.
Mr. Mizanskey's two prior felonies occurred when police were tipped off that Mizanskey had pot in his house. With a search warrant that was barely legal at the time, police raided his home and found enough marijuana to convict him of felony possession charges but not enough to charge him with distribution. This was in 1984 then later in 1991.
His third offense in 1993 happened to place him indirectly at the wrong place at the wrong time and lead to his ultimate imprisonment.
By Missouri standards, Mizanskey did break the law. He had over the legal amount (2 ounces each time) and enough to charge him with felony charges.
Missouri apparently is the only state in the union that not only has three strike laws, but also a separate persistent felony law just for drug offenses that racks up the most extreme sentences more quickly than the regular persistent felony laws for non drug offenses.
In his already 20 years in prison, Mizanskey has held onto a squeaky clean record, kept his job in the prison furniture factory where he is now a foreman for 16 years, and has taken every self bettering class that the prison offers, yet that won't take time off his sentence.
Also during his 20 years in prison, 21 US states have decriminalized medical marijuana. Cities like St. Louis, West Hollywood, and Detroit have decriminalized possession of small amounts of marijuana. And in the November 2012 elections, the states of Colorado and Washington voted for full marijuana legalization to those 21 and above.
In a day and age where alcohol and tobacco are legal, why is marijuana, which is prescribed as medicine in countries and regions all over the world, still federally illegal?
Aside from recent scientific breakthroughs in marijuana research that include potential cancer cures/treatments and advancements in AIDS therapy, let's discuss the health benefits of marijuana use. For instance, science proves that marijuana is a natural pain reliever. We actually have cannibinoid neurological receptors in our brain that give us euphoria and comfort upon partaking of marijuana. We know it helps ward off neasea and helps stimulate appetite. Cancer patients and AIDS patience have been prescribed marijuana for nearly 20 years as a way to combat chemotherapy symptoms.
(**Marijuana is not perfect. Smoking excessive amounts can lead to health problems in some trials in some patients, yet little major health concerns are associated with marijuana usage: probably because proper funding for research hasn't been allocated even today.**)
Those are just the health facts. Now let's talk numbers.
Want to know what America's biggest cash crop is? It isn't cotton, tobacco, paper, or even petroleum. ( not that petro is a crop) Nope, it's marijuana. Through both the medicinal marijuana trade in the US and the illegal drug trade, it is estimated that an annual $50,000,000,000 in marijuana sales occur each year in the US.
Meanwhile, 15 billion dollars have been spent in 2013 alone keeping up the War on Drugs in America. An estimated 10-15 billion dollars has been spent on the drug war since the Reagen 1980s each and every year.
There have been 15,800,000 drug related arrests in America in 2013 alone. Each prison inmate costs on average $22,000 per year to house. Someone like Mizanskey- we've already spent over $400,000 keeping him locked up.
And for what? Is putting someone for non violent or non distribution drug offenses away to prison for life rehabilitating anyone? The answer is no.
We've known for years that our prison system is in shambles. In California the governor has been ordered to reduce the prison population due to it being vastly over populated. Our national prisons are overcrowded and costing us tax payers millions of dollars. And again, for what?
What do we, the taxpayers, get out of keeping someone like Mizanskey locked up and away from his wife and children for the rest of his life simply because he had marijuana convictions?
The facts are there.
58% of all Americans believe marijuana should be legalized in our country.
69% polled agree that our prison system needs restructuring. The Obama administration and 8 state governors have made cutting prison populations a priority of 2014. Shouldn't we begin with the nonviolent drug offenders? Maybe instead of locking them up for $22k a pop, we should offer them rehab and counseling at a much cheaper cost. Or legitimate rehabilitation.
Ask yourselves why we continue to spend so much money on a drug war that is failing yet have no more money for our schools. We focus so much on a program that doesn't work that we aren't applying that energy to fix our broken homeland.
Just today, hours ago in fact, the country of Uruaguay became the first country to
legalize the growing, sale and smoking of marijuana. They are embracing the drug war in a knew way: realizing that marijuana is no more harmful to you than aspartame, caffeine, and small amounts of alcohol, they realize they can now cut overhead costs of focusing on marijuana and redirect the spending of drug war money on harder drugs. Legalizing weed is seen by leaders as a possible way to end the violence spawned by the cocaine trade and other hard drugs in Latin America.
The point of this entire rant that I'd like to make is this: why are we still letting the federal government criminalize and restrict our access to a medicine? And why is this man who has already severed 20 years in prison still in jail with no hope of freedom other than a pardon from the government.
There are currently 10+ marijuana legalization petitions posted right now on the Secetary of State of Missouri's website. I suspect my state of California will legalize recreational marijuana as one of the next states to do so - legalization and decriminalization have been on the ballot every time for 10 years.
Hopefully the rest of my country, and the world will catch up.
Until then, help me and your fellow country man by calling Missouri's governor, Jay Nixon, and asking him to pardon Jeff Mizansky:
That's : 5737513222 or email: http://governor.mo.gov/contact/
Tell the governor or his secretary that you want Jeff Mizanskey pardoned. It takes maybe 11 seconds to do.
( to get more detailed info on Mizanskey's case, go to:
http://blogs.riverfronttimes.com/dailyrft/2013/10/missouri_man_serving_life_in_p.php
That or the huff post:
http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/4283575/ )
In a day and age when we are recently celebrating the life of Nelson Mandela who was once a criminal himself, shouldn't we honor time served and an obvious rehabilitation?!?
It's time to federally legalize, and tax the shit out of, marijuana.
#freeMizanskey
#mizanskey
