Regardless of my personal views on marijuana, I do think that it is ridiculous how many people get put in jail for minor possession charges. In my work with unemployed people to help them get ready for and find jobs, a common problem for many of them is that they have criminal records, frequently related to small-time drug activity. And these are young people, aged 20-30, whose job options are hampered terribly by their criminal records, many of which probably could have been avoided if they could have afforded to hire the kind of attorney that I would hire if I found myself in a bit of a jam. There are just so many of these kinds of people in our society who want to work but who can't get hired. Meanwhile, our jails are overcrowded with prisoners, many of whom are in there on minor marijuana offenses. I'm not saying that I am in favor of the legalization of marijuana, but I do think that it should not be placed in the same criminal category as cocaine and heroin. That's just silly.


Panel debates merits of legalizing marijuana use
Saturday, November 06, 2010
By Paula Reed Ward, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The cost to incarcerate prisoners in the United States -- including nonviolent marijuana offenders -- averages about $26,000 per year.

Certainly, said Federal Public Defender Lisa Freeland, there are better ways to spend the government's money.

Even so -- as part of a panel at Duquesne University's Cyril H. Wecht Institute of Forensic Science and Law on Friday-- she was not willing to go so far as to say marijuana should be legalized.

"I'm not here to advocate for the legalization or decriminalization of marijuana or any other drug," Ms. Freeland said. But, she continued, the public must know, "There are substantial costs -- both financial and human," to the continuing high rate of incarceration in the United States.

About 500,000 people in this country are currently incarcerated on drug offenses.

Those include tens of thousands of people being held for crimes involving marijuana.

At the continuing legal education seminar on Friday, medical and legal experts debated the issues of legalizing either medical or recreational marijuana use.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10310/1101242-53.stm