Sunday, May 29, 2005
Your Next-Door Narcs
Let us examine what is wrong with our drug laws as of right now:
1. They are draconian. According to a 1990 study, 90 percent of all first-time drug offenders were sentenced to an average of five years in prison*.
2. They are racist and elitist. Currently, possession of crack (most common among lower class blacks) carries a harsher sentence than possession of cocaine (most common among upper-middle class whites).
Want to know what will be wrong with them if Congressman James "You Said 'Fuck' on TV, You Should Go to Jail!" Sensenbrenner gets his way? All of the above, plus compulsory narcing for anyone who so much as hears about drug use. And yes, that includes narcing on your siblings, your parents, and your kids. And here's where it gets worse:
Taking time to talk to your relative about treatment instead of calling the police immediately could land you in jail.
In other words, you must sit there, helpless, as your son/brother/dad/husband goes to jail. Any attempt to change that, any attempt to straighten him out that is not judicially mandated, will result in a minimum sentence of no less than two years in federal pound-me-in-the-ass prison.
It's official; we are slowly yet surely sliding into fascism.
*Yes, I openly admit that my source for this is Bill Bryson. If I erred, then correct me.
1. They are draconian. According to a 1990 study, 90 percent of all first-time drug offenders were sentenced to an average of five years in prison*.
2. They are racist and elitist. Currently, possession of crack (most common among lower class blacks) carries a harsher sentence than possession of cocaine (most common among upper-middle class whites).
Want to know what will be wrong with them if Congressman James "You Said 'Fuck' on TV, You Should Go to Jail!" Sensenbrenner gets his way? All of the above, plus compulsory narcing for anyone who so much as hears about drug use. And yes, that includes narcing on your siblings, your parents, and your kids. And here's where it gets worse:
Taking time to talk to your relative about treatment instead of calling the police immediately could land you in jail.
In other words, you must sit there, helpless, as your son/brother/dad/husband goes to jail. Any attempt to change that, any attempt to straighten him out that is not judicially mandated, will result in a minimum sentence of no less than two years in federal pound-me-in-the-ass prison.
It's official; we are slowly yet surely sliding into fascism.
*Yes, I openly admit that my source for this is Bill Bryson. If I erred, then correct me.
Comments:
<< Home
Yeah, I know. I'd go for the 1984 reference that the guy at AlterNet used, but a) that'd just be lazy, and b) I think I've depleted my weekly allotment of 1984 references.
Post a Comment
<< Home
