James Harper and Ron Paul: A Call for Legalizing Marijuana August 8, 2012
"SHOULD WE KILL OUR YOUNG UNARMED MEN FOR MARIJUANA POSSESSION?"
Presented to the Dallas City Council by Richard P. Sheridan, P.E., N.Y www.RichSheridanforSheriff@gmail.com
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Before I say anything on this subject, I must first state the great respect that I have for the Dallas Police department, for the people, men and women of all colors, the husbands, and wives, sisters and brothers who risk their lives everyday to protect us, we the citizens of Dallas. I am in acquaintance with, and periodically in contact with our Police Chief, with Levi Williams of Community Affairs, and a few officers. I believe they all will attest to my respect for the force, and my intent to improve conditions for the citizens of Dallas, as well for all police officers who are sometimes put in harms way because of our insane, and evil drug laws.
We recently had a young black man in the Dixon area of Dallas killed during an altercation with a Dallas police officer. Marijuana was involved. We have a candidate for President of the United States who wants to legalize drugs. Maybe God sent us both James Harper and Ron Paul with the major message, that if we don't adopt Ron Paul's drug policies we will all be "Paul-bearers" for our Nation that destroyed itself! How many people are killed or imprisoned each year over illegal drugs? There were about 48,000 mostly innocent Mexican citizens killed in 5 years in Mexico's drug war, with about 13,000 killed in the first 9 months of 2011. There are tens of thousands of Mexican children orphaned by the violence. Much of the Mexican drug cartels profits come from the United States. Its been reported that Dallas is a primary U.S. city with there are street gangs with direct cartel ties. Here in the United States we have 1 percent of our national population in prison, 3 million people, with about 70% in prison for drug related charges. Multiply that by ten, and that’s 21 million family members who suffer the financial and emotional damages from the imprisonment of a loved one for drug charges. We are paying nearly $100 billion each year for an institution that annually gets a grade of 35 for only keeping 35% of the prison population from returning to prison; there's a 65% recidivism rate. Our prisons are more and more becoming privately owned, Wall St. traded corporations, much more interested in profits than in rehabilitation." THEY ARE TODAY'S SLAVE SHIPS!!!
Why was is it that the prison sentence for crack cocaine automatically received mandatory 10 yr sentencing, usually about 100 times worse sentencing than for the possession of powder cocaine? They recently reduced it to 18 to 1...aren't they compassionate?! Crack is mostly the black mans drug, and cocaine is the white mans drug, generally speaking. Should an unarmed man or woman, no matter the color, be killed because of any drug possession, being shot running away in fear? 17 states have legalized and now regulate marijuana use, and 6 states have legislation pending. Marijuana is far "superior" to alcohol, prescription drugs, and cigarettes. While mariujuana may be responsible for the deaths of about 300 to 1000 people each year, the combined annual deaths of alcohol, prescription drugs, and cigarettes exceeds 1 million each year. It is true that Texas first marijuana laws were aimed at the Rio Grande Mexican community whose culture strongly involved marijuana, and who just wanted to live their lives, but "Oh no!" said the Gringo, "We must control these lesser beings."
As Ron Paul correctly asked during a presidential debate, "if heroin were legalized tomorrow, how many people would run out to buy it?" Many, many well known drug enforcement officers/officials, and attorneys have called the Federal Governments Drug Policies and War on Drugs a near total failure. Many Dallas police officers believe marijuana should be regulated like alcohol, with the responsible use of both in any public setting. As we know Dallas is now a Democratic stronghold in a Republican state. Democrats are known to have a heart for and take a strong political position for the poor, the homeless, for drug reform, for the human condition much more so than the relatively heartless Republicans...EXCEPT FOR THE GREAT TEXAS REPUBLICAN RON PAUL!!! To honor James Harpers life, and perhaps make a major impact in an extremely important President election, I call for a City of Dallas Resolution calling for the legalization of Marijuana.
SOME "WAR ON DRUGS" FACTS - Ron Paul For President!!!
Law Enforcement Money Spent on the "War on Drugs" this year:
Federal....$16 Billion States....$25 Billion
Annual Cost of imprisonment:
Federal....$100 Billion/yr Texas....$5 Billion/yr Dallas County Jail...+-$400 Million/yr (70% of County’s Total Budget) (7th largest in the Nation)
Annual Dallas Police Cost: +- $400 Million (40 % of the Dallas Operating Budget, and 20% of Total Budget)
- 1 MILLION WERE ARRESSED NATIONALLY FOR DRUG VIOLATIONS IN 2010 -
51 % Were Cannabis/Marijuana Law Violations at 518,000
Total Number of People in Prison in the United States - 3 million (1% of population)
88% of Jail Inmates with Drug Related Charges Committed a NON-VIOLENT Crime
Prison Population Breakdown by Race:
Blacks and Latinos - 70% of Prison Population, representing 25% of the U.S. Population
Blacks - 7 times the incarceration rate, and 4 times the drop out rate of whites, with 12% of the National population
In a lifetime, 6% of whites, 17% of Hispanics and 32% of all black men will serve time in prison
The Total Estimated Number of people, family members and friends, emotionally and financially
suffering the imprisonment :
30 Million!!!
- Many can't afford to accept inmate collect call charges
- Many are restricted financially and institutionally in their visits to inmates
- Many children don't have their father's guidance, and are conditioned to be our next prisoners
- Is this how we rehabilitate our prison inmates, keeping them from their nurturing families,
and contributing to their suffering?!
The United States and Texas Should Get An OLYMPIC MEDAL For Having
the WORLD"S LARGEST PRISON AND JAIL POPULATIONS!!!
Illegal Drugs are the Bait to Continue the En-Slavement of the Black Community!
Anyone who denies that our Un-Constitutional-drug-related Criminal Justice System isn't Institutionally Racist, and a Crime Against the Black Community is Either a Liar, a Racist, and/or a Fool! Good Reason They Call it a "Criminal" Justice System!