The problem with the crack laws is they DO have a racial preference. Crack cocaine gets you more time in prison than powdered cocaine........why is there different sentencing guidelines? for the same drug? I'll tell you why, crack is used and mostly sold by black people while on the other hand powder is mostly used by rich white kids.
then you should agree with obama in repealing these ridiculous sentancing guidlines for crack. The reason sentanceing is so harsh is because racial preference
was used when deciding the the sentacing guidlines for crack cocaine and powdered coke in the first place.
So you agree with Obama again
You misquoted me.. Yes I agree with removing and/or lowering the mandatory minimums on crack. I DO NOT agree with releasing those convicted of crack related offenses. (With the possible and extrememly rare 'non-violent crack offender' (I can only think of one and that was when George Clinton got busted for crack while sitting in his car in Tallahassee.)
IF ... and I say IF he removes or reduces the punishment for crack related offenses and DOES NOT touch the marijuana laws then HE is legislating racially.)
Since you address it, and several others do ... CRACK IS NOT COCAINE.
I've had plenty of acquaintances use coke regularly or occasionally. While I didn't like most of them while they were strung out, on the whole they weren't NEARLY as bad as the people I knew hooked on crack. Most the coke heads I knew got off the powder (one had a stroke the other four entered rehab and are still clean) the three crack heads I knew died (1 murdered and 2 died of OD's on crack.) Granted my sample is small but coke had a 25% fatality rate and crack had a 100% fatality rate in my small circle. Oh ya, only one black guy out of the group and he prefered the powder and is still alive.)
Yes cocaine mixed with baking soda is crack, but that's not all that happens. It's mixed with water and made into a paste, then it is cooked. After it's cooked it's removed and 'dropped' to make it crack into rocks (get the feeling I've done this before?)
The heating aspect of the process changes the chemicals on a molecular level. The water not only allows the spreading of the paste, but also creates a 'microwave' effect through the heated evaporation. (Water molecules create their own heat as they evaporate or a microwave wouldn't do anything.) The result is a created chemical that is not indentically molecular to cocaine, it' a different drug all together.
Yes both are HARSH drugs and do some pretty nasty things to people, but hell I've seen pot heads that were once brilliant fall to perpetual couch lock. However marijuana is dried and cured and we all know the best weed is unaltered weed.
I've smoked Coke (sprinkled on REALLY bad schwag) that doesn't mean I smoked crack. You could 'smoke' cocaine long before crack, freebasing (anyone remember Richard Pryor?) I didn't get hooked on Coke those few times I smoked it, but I've never seen anyone walk away cold from crack.
Crack is not equal to Cocaine. Saying that it is, is like saying a birthday cake is just an egg with flower and water to make it doughy.
After his disdain displayed at the thought of legalizing marijuana, a prety much racially equal drug and his ferver in his speaches about not only removing sentencaing guidelines on crack but also releasing crack offenders, I get the strong feeling that he is going to be racially biased in his legislation. Specifically that he will ignore or take less interest in things that do not directly effect blacks. He has a 'bag' of promises to keep up first but I fear that once he's either proven his inability to keep them or he succeeds that he will focus on specifically racially tilted issues and legislate rasism towards (or at least in the general direction of) whites.
He spoke out against 'southerners' saying they 'clung to their religion and guns.' Well isn't that just pretty Mr congregation of Rev. White an admitted racist. The people in that church were in a ferver against 'da man' and obviously hated 'whitey.' I don't think a near lifetime of that preeching had ANY effect on Pres. Obama.
I think Dr. King had the right idea of 'equality.' He included whites in his ideology and being together. If Mr Obama thinks this way congratulations. I'll gladly see both Marijuana and Crack laws go away, but if only one goes.. Well you do the math, who's governmentally discriminated against now?
Right now I see 'strategic pandering' to the corporations and banks. I see an unwillingness to understand what the people care about. (His internet town hall meeting, if he'd explored the idea at ALL he would have had a better argument.) I see his staff exploring all kinds of firearms legislation despite Nacny Pelosi's statement against the idea. The ONE thing I agree with was his defunding of Guantanemo Bay. While I agree we need to get Osama bin Laden, I don't see any of the promised exit from Iraq, but I see more kids going to Afganistan when MOST of the terrists are known to be in Pakistan. He already renigged on his campaign call to abolish 'Faith Based initatives' and in fact INCREASED the funding for them. What I'm not seeing is a whole lot of change and I'm really not getting a good feeling of Hope either.
The Obamessiah ferver bugs the hell out of me because it shows a complete lack of free thought and an over abundance of group mentality. I only hope that there are those who have the testicular stregnth to stand up against any tilted legislation he gets introduced and that things at a minimum remain at or near status quo. If change starts leaning in a bad direction there will be a new term that typically only applies to people seeking legal prosectution for capital crimes.
"United States refugee."
I use a term my grand-dad used. "Post Turtle."
A post turtle is a turtle you see atop a fencepost. You are vexed by this prospect. First you realize that a turtle can't do much atop a fence post. Then you become perplexed as to how exactly it got up there. Since it can't do much in that position and it had no chance of getting there on its own, you then question, "Who exactly was the moron that put it up there."
If Obama gets a second term then I truely wonder what will happen. It could be the worse Presidential coups that's happened since Watergate, or it could be the restoration of Camelot. In other words I don't know if he'll legislate the relesal of marijuana or not, I also don't know that he won't be legislating in favor of his theocratic upbringing.
It's only been two months and there might be magic up those sleeves. His words are pretty, I'll give you that. He's got charisma and charecter. What I have yet to see are actions. I don't believe in charisma, charecter, or words until I see them backed up with action. What I'm seeing instead is more wheeling and dealing typical of anyone in office.
-RT76
Obama
Obama does not care about the legalization of weed bro. And if he gets a second term there is no hope for the american people
