Sen. Jim Webb: Why We Must Reform Our Criminal Justice System

Wow, I went back to see if the count was lower now. It's not, but many of the last comments are gone and the conversation is restarted. One comment pointed to the Bible and it's reference to the herb. It's gone? That's the one which sticks in my mind. I commented to my husband about the use of the scripture and now it's gone. Why not leave it and let the reader interpret it for themselves? I wonder if they were picking and choosing which comments to remove? I can't believe they found a Bible scripture offensive.

Wow, I went back to send Arianna an email to ask why it was closed and the comment count is down to 227. What is going on over there?

With only 352 comments posted, HuffingtonPost has closed the comment features of this post?

'Comments are closed for this entry'? I have never before seen a conversation stopped at HuffingtonPost. I wonder why? Most of the comments were in support of cannabis and associated the problems with our prison system to cannabis incarceration. But, I wouldn't think that would justify stopping the dialog.

Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil? What happened?

A crime is an act committed against another person.
Such as Murder, Assault, Rape Theft, Damage to property and so forth.
An act that only affects self is not a crime.

Acts such as Drug use, Prostitution, or being a Democrate are only degrading the individual and should not be a crime.

This comment is in part by a poster at huffingtonpost.
Proteus1946
A Citizen of the Republic

The definitions of the DEA's Schedule of Drugs:

Schedule I
High potential for abuse.
No currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States.
Lack of accepted safety for use under medical supervision.
Examples: Heroin, Marijuana (Cannabis).

Schedule II
High potential for abuse.
Has a currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States or a currently accepted medical use with severe restrictions.
Abuse may lead to severe psychological or physical dependence.
Examples: methadone, methamphetamine.

Schedule III
Potential for abuse less than the drugs in schedules I and II.
Has a currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States.
Abuse of the drug may lead to moderate or low physical dependence or high psychological dependence.
Examples: Anabolic steroids, synthetic THC (Marinol).

Marijuana simply does not belong in Schedule I. This simple change in the DEA's Schedule of Drugs could release many thousands of NON-VIOLENT 'Drug Offenders' from prison, some of whom are doing time for using their 'recommended' medicine.

I would really be interested in any objection to this proposition.

Might as well..I heard FEMA camps were like prison camps but with formaldehyde.

Things will level out when the big stock market crash of august hits and government will be forced to feed people rather than incarcerate them. Or maybe we could put our criminals in the fema camps with just that razor wire separating them from society that is in chaos.

While I do not, never have and never will engage in 'pot smoking', the first thing that needs to be reformed are the marijuana laws.

the numbers are skewed, because the same laws in the U.S. are not on the books for other countries.
You don't hear about rapists going to prison in middle eastern and other countries, same can be said about drug offenders, drug gangs, drinking and driving,...etc...
the u.s. has plenty of laws to even keep the innocent locked up.

I sent Senator Webb an email of thanks months ago when I first learned of his efforts. I'm not his constituent. I urge everyone to do the same. He deserves our support. He needs to know we're behind him. First hand.

Why? His inquiry isn't into cannabis; not even drugs in general. It's prison reform. But you know what? Seems to me it makes no difference which end we tackle this problem from. The important thing is that somebody takes it on. Senator Webb is doing that.

The point of this may not be drugs, but the findings can't be ignored. More than 1/2 of the people in prison are there for drug offenses. More than 1/2 of those are non-violent. Those numbers are the very things he's trying to address. So don't get disappointed yet. Those things will come out. They have to.

Instead, send the good Senator a thank you. http://webb.senate.gov/contact/

Incarteration is the new segregation of our time. Freedom is an illusions were living in a police state.

I posted this post from HuffingtonPost. Most of the comments at HuffingtonPost spoke of cannabis, yet cannabis was not mentioned once at the hearing. Sad.

The more things change, the more they stay the same! When they spoke of drugs, they did not differentiate between cannabis, or heroin. Everyone is afraid to say the word cannabis, cause they don't have answers as to why it is illegal. Other than the spun distortion which was used to make it illegal in the first place. If they don't say the word cannabis, they don't have to defend it's illegality.

I get the same amount of satisfaction, watching paint dry.

Yes! It needs to be reformed! I do not believe in prisons, except for high dangerous criminals. I think that people that are helping to screw up our society and abuse the innocent should work and pay back to society and the innocent. Also the legislation is very slow or has been corrupted to deal with high profile offenders. The sad part it is that our system has been somehow molded to reward stealing plus hits and runs.

Eliminating privatized prisons would be a great step! Freeing the weed would greatly reduce the problem.

If something doesn't work properly, fix it. It's called progress, and it's a lot smarter than the alternative.

I have looked forward to listening live to the hearing at 3:00. I sure hope it's not a disappointment. I too would like to hear cztheday's thoughts on the issue. It's nice to read a 'voice of reason'.

From an economic standpoint, we can't afford our criminal justice system. Only those guilty of violent crimes should do time. Drug offenders don't pose a public threat. If you want to do drugs, I say do them. The gov. could create a twofold swing with revenue by not prosecuting drug crimes and taxing for the legalization of certain banned substances. That's sustainable. People want their fix, the gov. gets money from them all the while they don't have to pay the outrageous price to incarcerate. Use logic to find our way, not emotion. Emotion leads to unfair, un-thought out policy that hinders our ability to progress.

I hope they keep people honest. Don't afford them the luxury of lying in plain sight. Ronald Reagan was afforded the luxury of a lie. Now people spin disinformation in plain sight and no one holds them accountable.

"I now have absolute proof that smoking even one marijuana cigarette is equal in brain damage to being on Bikini Island during an H-bomb blast" - Ronald Reagan

How many people have been sent to prison based on spun disinformation and many times out and out lies? Ronald Reagan gave us our first 'Drug Czar'. He virtually silenced the voices of decent, using a fear figure, new to America. Czar tracks back to tyrant and despot in our dictionaries. 'Czar' should not be used to identify leaders in America. Facts should be used, not fear and spun disinformation.

Jack Herer, author of "The Emperor Wears No Clothes" has made his treasure trove of cannabis hemp information, available to read at www.jackherer.com/chapters.html . Anyone who is unaware of cannabis hemp"s history should visit his site and read the facts. Cannabis hemp has history which goes far beyond the 'war on drugs'. The war on drugs has stifled cannabis hemp's history and many, many uses.