The war on drugs reached the pinnacle of cruelty when 18-year-old Mitchell Lawrence was sentenced to two years in jail for selling a teaspoonful of marijuana to an undercover police officer for $20.

On June 30, 2004, detective Felix Aguirre, employed by the Drug Task Force, was assigned the duty of going undercover to buy drugs from kids who hung out in a parking lot in Berkshire County in Massachusetts. Merchants had complained to police about the kids. Mitchell Lawrence was there with his pipe and a few buds of marijuana. He had no idea the parking lot was less than 1,000 feet from a preschool located in the basement of a church, nor did he know this parking lot was the site of a police sting operation.

Aguirre approached Mitchell and asked him if he had any weed. Mitchell pulled out a small bag of marijuana. The cop offered him $20. Mitchell hesitated; Aguirre insisted. Mitchell, who had seen Aguirre hanging out with other kids, motioned the cop to follow him up the street where he intended to smoke with him. Aguirre waved the $20 in his face. Mitchell, who was broke at the time, took the money, the first time he had ever accepted money in exchange for marijuana.

In the months that followed, Aguirre approached Mitchell again for marijuana. This time, however, Mitchell refused. Weeks later, a crew of undercover cops stormed Mitchell's home and placed him under arrest. Mitchell was found guilty of distribution of marijuana, committing a drug violation within a drug-free school zone and possession.

On March 22, 2006, Mitchell Lawrence was sentenced to two years in prison.

While this outrageous case happened in a sleepy burg in Massachusetts, the case of Mitchell Lawrence is one of countless tales of drug war madness that takes place on America's streets daily.

Mitchell Lawrence's story was eerily familiar to me. In 1985, I was the subject of a police sting operation after passing an envelope containing four ounces of cocaine to undercover officers in Mount Vernon, New York. I was set up by someone who offered me $500 to transport the package. The individual who introduced me to the cop was an informant facing life in prison. He was offered a deal -- the more people he helped ensnare, the less time he would serve. I received a sentence of 15 years to life under New York's draconian Rockefeller Drug Laws.

Mitchell Lawrence's disproportionate sentence was handed down one day before the release of a national report by the Justice Policy Institute (JPI) titled, "Disparity by Design: How Drug-free Zone Laws Impact Racial Disparity and Fail to Protect Youth," which includes research from Massachusetts.

The JPI study, commissioned by the Drug Policy Alliance, found that drug-free zone laws do not serve their intended purpose of protecting youth from drug activity. The Massachusetts data on drug enforcement in three cities found that less than one percent of the drug-free zone cases actually involved sales to youth. Additionally, Massachusetts researchers found that nonwhites were more likely to be charged with an offense that carries drug-free zone enhancement than whites engaged in similar conduct. Blacks and Hispanics account for just 20 percent of Massachusetts residents, but 80 percent of drug-free zone cases.

"School zone laws have remained unchanged in Massachusetts because the legislature has been promised that prosecutors use discretion," said Whitney A. Taylor, executive director of the Drug Policy Forum of Massachusetts. "Unfortunately, the life of a young man has been sacrificed, proving that discretion is not being used, and that the law must be changed."

Mitchell Lawrence was not the only person arrested in an undercover drug operation in the summer of 2004. There were a total of 18 others, including five young people who are still awaiting trial for alleged sales that took place at the same Great Barrington parking lot.

District Attorney David F. Capeless is the man behind Berkshire County enforcement and entrapment. Capeless is a hard-nosed drug war zealot, who insists that these laws are effective in combating drug use -- even if it means ruining a young man's life in the process.

Mitchell Lawrence was set to graduate from high school this spring. Instead, he will watch his fellow classmates graduate from his prison cell.

The common thread between my case, Mitchell's case and drug-free school zones nationally is the abuse of power from the prosecutors through the application of mandatory minimums. These laws handcuff judges and force them to impose harsh sentences.

Mitchell Lawrence's conviction inspired a group of concerned Berkshire County residents to seek Capeless' ouster in the upcoming district attorney race. Defense attorney Judith Knight answered the call to fill this role. Knight, a former assistant district attorney for Middlesex County, said Mitchell Lawrence's conviction was "the tipping point" for her decision to run against Capeless in the upcoming Democratic primary election in September.

"A tough prosecutor is tough on crime and also has the ability to demonstrate compassion and insight when the case calls for it," Knight says. She hopes to follow in the footsteps of David Soares, who ran for district attorney and defeated Paul Clyne in Albany, New York, in 2004. Soares ran a race primarily on the platform of Rockefeller Drug Law reform. He easily defeated the sitting district attorney, who refused to change his views on the draconian drug law legislation of New York.

It is heartening that communities like Berkshire County are fighting back and attempting to hand reckless district attorneys and other politicians the pink slip. Choosing to destroy lives and indiscriminately apply laws does more harm than good, ultimately, and it doesn't make our streets any safer.

Anthony Papa is the author of "15 To Life: How I Painted My Way To Freedom" (Feral House).
This article was taken from : http://15yearstolife.com it has some other good stories check it out.

So, was it because there was money involved also that made it a drug deal and more severe? If not, I am wondering what will happen next time a professional athlete gets caught with the stuff.

What state was that? In California, they wouldn't even arrest you. You get a misdemeanor citation for a $200 fine.

Seriously, why should the US care, its not like the government are dying from marijuana, its not affecting them. Forget the "better of the people" crap. Its their body, they can do anything they want to do with it.

They send us to prison for selling pot and/or smoking it !! How stupid could that be when there letting a person like.............President BUSH ........................
KILL, BLOW UP, BOMB, AND TAKE ALL OUR MONEY....................
Walking around all high and mighty !
Or wait is that BUSH , Walking around with his DICK up his ASS like all the other people against pot smokers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Screw off to all of you and let people live in peace..... Worrie about
real problems like maybe the war you started .... How to end it would be a good start !!!!!

US POT SMOKERS ROCK

LOL

Well put , way to vent them frustrations Mike. I can imagine how it feels to be so damn angry, that's how I feel alot of the time. Just the fact that you feel so fuckin voiceless, and that there's nothing you can do to speak out against injustices like the one Roll posted. But always remember we aren't voiceless but we do need to voice our opinons in ways that them fuckers will understand. we are the consumers in a capitolist society therefore, technically we hold alot of the power if not most of it.

By this I mean, if you want to stick it to the Bush administration try not to purchase items that will fuel thier pocketbooks (pun intended). I know it's hard to do considering petroleum is such a huge industry but to be political means sometimes you have to go out of your way to make your voice heard, research companies, their products and what not and make well educated purchases.

i found this interesting as well
Back in the day, 1914, The el paso ordinance was introduced to control the entry of marijuana to the US by Mexican workers, This law it's said was also used to control the Mexicans. -History of Marijuana

Seems so damn familiar almost a century later ya know

Seriously thats just wrong. You should be able to make your mind up about what you choose to smoke. It is your life afterall. If the person selling was like "buy this, buy this, c'mon buy this" then it would of been a slightly different matter because its not 100% choice on the buyer. The fact the cop requested it, in my opinion, changes things.

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Tokey tokey toke!

This makes me glad to be in england, my stepdad was smoking with one of his friends in his back garden shed. They took a walk to the shop and stopped a for a few lids on the pipe. A Policeman caught them, put them in his car, drove them back home, and actually had a smoke with them in the shed and bought a quart from him.

Gotta love british law enforcement <3

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When I was a young pup like most I read here, myself and others would get our hash (nice black tar type) from the police drug lock up from one fo the local police here in Canada.

Those were the days.......

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Nobody should be smoking hash =( it's rubbish compared to bud...unless it's a mix your smoking

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