MB Civic

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010 at 1:58 PM and filed under Drugs (legal/illegal), Law Enforcement, Legal. Follow comments here with the RSS 2.0 feed. Skip to the end and leave a response. Trackbacks are closed.

2 Responses to “AlterNet: Michael Douglas’s Son Faces More Time Than a Murderer or a Rapist for a Nonviolent Drug Charge”

1. James Lamberti said:

   Let me pose some answers to Mr. Anthony Papa’s questions and comment on some of his illogic:

   “Who benefits from Cameron Douglas getting at least 10 years in prison?”

   Mr. Papa answers his own question quite accurately. It’s true; no one really “benefits” from incarceration, but why even pose such a question? If I murdered your family, who benefits from my incarceration, if I only intended on murdering “your family”? The answer here is also no one; your family would still be dead, why not just send me to murder rehab until I promise not to do it again? Incarceration is not meant to be rehabilitation, it is meant to be punishment for committing a crime. Granted, it may not be the best way to handle treatment of criminals, but it’s the best we have. And in actuality there are some benefits to removing drug dealers from the population. People he may have sold drugs to will not be able to buy drugs from him anymore; that is a benefit. Yes, drug seekers will find other dealers, but that doesn’t matter much. Additionally, I personally benefit from his incarceration because now I know it’s not a good idea to sell methamphetamine.

   “The government is hell-bent on punishing him for the crime of being an addict.”

   No. Although I have not read a record of the official charges, I am fairly certain there is no crime in merely being addicted to a substance, nor is there a crime in being addicted to murdering families. It is the acts related to the addictions that are criminal. I don’t think the DEA much cares if the dealers they arrest are users or businessmen. Mr. Papa makes Douglas to be some sort of martyr, which he is not; he is a slime ball drug dealer who also happens to have a drug problem. Applying the logic that he is being punished for being an addict is ridiculous. Would pedophilia be a less serious crime if one were “addicted” to having sex with young boys? No.

   “This stems from a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) investigation based on information from unidentified informants who were methamphetamine users and drug dealers. In other words, these rats gave Cameron up to save their own hides. In exchange for agreeing to be cooperating witnesses against Cameron, they were allowed to plead guilty to lesser charges.”

   Just want to get this straight: informants are rats only concerned with saving their own hides, and Cameron is somehow a victim. Is that right? He did nothing wrong, right? He was set up by rats, right? I was under the impression that he was arrested with 10k in cash and buckets full of meth in some fancy hotel. Did that not happen? My guess is that the ‘rat informants’ were merely drug addicts and not dealers living high on the hog.

   “I am mad as hell! Why? In the 1980s, I faced a similar fate that led to my 15-to-life sentence for a first-time, nonviolent drug sale in New York. So I know too well the routine the DEA went through to rope Douglas into a corner forcing him to take a plea deal. They scared the living crap out of him, telling him he would never see the light of day if he went to trial. Why would anyone in their right mind plead out to a 10-year minimum sentence? In the U.S., this type of behavior is standard in procuring drug convictions of low-level drug offenders who wind up doing more time than a murderer or rapist.”

   OK, Mr. Papa was a drug dealer too, how admirable that he’s turned his life around, but what is he proposing, more stringent punishment for rapists and murders? I’ll gladly sign that petition, but I still think drug dealers like Douglas should be locked up and punished for breaking the law.

   “A good friend of Cameron Douglas told me that Douglas has been hooked on heroin for the last several years. Why else would he compel his girlfriend to bring over a toothbrush box containing 20 bags of dope while he was under house arrest several months ago? He needs drug treatment, not a decade or more of hard time in prison.”

   Oh, if you put it that way it all makes sense. Serial killers need treatment too, and in many cases chemical castration of male serial killers via the use of injections of depo-medrogyprogesterone has shown that the urge to kill is all but removed. So we should really just shut down all our prisons and build rehab centers were everyone finger paints, learns to breathe, does yoga, sings around a campfire, does the twelve steps, and everything will be lollipops and rainbows and we’ll all live happily ever after.

   “I think his imprisonment is immoral and counterproductive to public safety. By locking up Douglas and those like him, our government is wasting resources that could otherwise be used to stop violent crime.”

   Jackass, where do you think these drugs originate? Does the author think meth is delivered by the “the meth fairy”, or maybe mystical elves deliver blow and smack to homes in the Hollywood Hills? Sorry to burst your bubble, but drugs come from bad people who are part of organizations called “drug cartels” who have small armies with things called “guns” that they use to kill people in order to procure delivery of there non violent drugs. I do not have statistics in front of me, but there is plenty of obvious evidence that violent crimes and drugs are linked, on occasion at least. Drugs are sometimes sold by groups of people called “gangs” and from what I hear these gangs sometimes do violent things, but I can’t be sure. Some drugs, like methamphetamine, are made in kitchens in Middle America where dumbasses constantly blow up homes in “violent” explosions. The statement that Douglas’ imprisonment is counterproductive to public safety is completely absurd. Irrespective of how one former drug dealer feels about a fellow drug dealer, there is absolutely no logic in thinking that incarcerating a drug dealer endangers the public.

   “Today, there are over 500,000 Americans locked up for nonviolent drug law violations. The cost of incarcerating such individuals is draining state and federal budgets and producing idiotic solutions by politicians to make up for its burgeoning costs — like the recent cuts in health care, education, and other social service programs.”

   I agree with Mr. Papa and think that the solutions to pay for prisons are idiotic. I think criminals with nonviolent drug convictions should be put to work so they can actually pay for their “room and board”. They should be given minimum wage jobs, or build houses for Habit for Humanity, or do something. It’s not like they were productive members of society before they were incarcerated. They definitely don’t deserve to sit around all day doing nothing, that’s just not fair to anyone.

   “It will cost tax payers an estimated $45,000 a year to keep him in prison.”

   See above.

   “His family and friends will no doubt mourn their loss while Douglas rots away in a federal prison for being a nonviolent drug addict.”

   I’m sure his family can visit and write letters.

   “Should we treat drug addiction as a criminal matter or a medical problem?”

   We should treat addiction as a medical problem; we should treat criminals as criminals. However, drug charges are not based on addiction, not all dealers are junkies, and being a junkie does not exempt one from the law.
   “For most people, treatment is a much more effective way to overcome addiction, yet our prisons are full of drug-addicted individuals. Nonviolent drug offenders should be given an opportunity to receive treatment, not jail time, for their drug use. This would be a more effective and affordable solution for the individual and the community.”

   Douglas admitted to selling large amounts of crystal meth and cocaine. He also happens to be a drug addict. He wasn’t arrested for having a gram of coke; he had large sums of money and drugs on him when he was arrested. Furthermore, he mailed 215 grams of methamphetamine to a federal agent. The DEA tries to remove drugs and drug dealers from our communities. He deserves to rot in jail. If he was just an addict, why was he selling large quantities of drugs? He may have started as an addict, but that does not justify becoming a dealer and selling drugs to more and more people spreading the very thing Mr. Papa so fervently wants to rid the country of.

   “We need to end these draconian drug laws by offering drug-addicted individuals treatment instead of prison.”

   We need to rid the world of drugs and cartels and better educate our youth on the dangers of drug use and make examples of those who willfully choose to break the law.

   -Lamberti

   Posted on 02-Feb-10 at 6:49 pm | Permalink
2. Michael Butler said:

   Good comments, well written.
   Notwithstanding I am not in favor of the Drug War.
   MB

   Posted on 03-Feb-10 at 11:34 am | Permalink