September 02, 2003
The Honorable Bud Sackowitz
An appeals court today tossed out 111 death sentences on the grounds that they were imposed by judges, not juries, as certain states' laws require. That's not what I came here to talk about.
The case that led to this court's ruling was somewhat of a legal fiasco. One bit of information about the original case was that the judge who issued the ruling was under the influence of marijuana when he did so.
I am not going to try to defend the judge in this matter. I think being under the influence of anything while presiding over any court case is deplorable, much less on a case involving the death penalty.
But this gets me to my main point. I wonder how many judges are under the influence of something while on the bench — namely alcohol? And how often is this either not known (obviously, something that we can never know) or conveniently overlooked?
If it had been discovered that the judge in this case had, instead of taking a hit off a joint, helped himself to a double shot of Dewar's while in his chambers, would it get brought up during this latest coverage? It's meaningless conjecture, I realize, but I would dare say it would not.
I don't really know where I'm going with this, but it just brings up to me the hypocrisy of drug laws in this nation. Regardless of whether you personally enjoy the effects of marijuana or alcohol or not, I don't see how anyone who is OK with the sale and consumption of alcohol can at the same time argue that marijuana should rightfully be illegal.
For that matter, I think tobacco should be lumped into this discussion as well. In fact, I think a discussion of the legality of pot is put in better context with tobacco rather than alcohol. Alcohol — wheat, barley, etc. — needing altering and processing to be made, where as marijuna and tobacco need no such alteration.
I see why the government and society in general would not want to allow the unregulated sale and distribution of marijuana, just as trading in alcohol is highly regulated. What I cannot grasp is why a person cannot choose to grow marijuana for their own (and their friends, possibly) consumption, just as they can with beer or tobacco? What am I missing?
Any high schooler trying their first cigarette can tell you that tobacco is a mind-altering substance. For many, myself included, it made me sick to my stomach most every time I smoked it in the beginning. However, thirteen years later, I'm still smoking it. Now, that's a powerful drug!
I'm getting way off the original path here, (and no I wasn't high when I wrote this, my rambling is natural), but this is an issue that just doesn't fit into my logic structure. I can't figure it out. Therefore, my thoughts are somewhat disjointed. It just sends my brain into a whirl.
I'm hoping writing about it will bring up ideas that hadn't occurred to me before. (Add that to the list of reasons why I do this, I guess. See previous post.)
Posted by jtnt at September 2, 2003 10:00 PM in Blather