6th
speech in this series to the Josephine County Commissioners, June 24, 2009.
Today,
I’ll explain another finding in A
Resolution Regarding Marijuana:
“WHEREAS our law enforcement resources are being wasted on
enforcing said prohibition, rather than laws that properly secure rights;…”
Earlier
this year, for two months in a row, our Sheriff gave us a report in this
meeting regarding how his department operates, and showing us his
priorities. It came out in those reports
that he assigns 2 detectives to crimes against people; 2 to Narcotics; and
none, ZERO, to property crimes.
Apparently, his priorities didn’t go over well, because he stopped
giving us those reports.
It
is hardly likely to please county residents to hear that their burglaries and
thefts will not be investigated. Any
theft where family is suspected, no matter how serious, is called a civil
matter and is not investigated or prosecuted.
One
has to wonder what our elected sheriff is thinking, as the reason he has given
for his assignments—that drug users commit a lot of theft and therefore he
catches thieves as well—is not serious or persuasive. My own thought is that he may be receiving
one or more state or federal grants that require him to keep 2 detectives
assigned to Narcotics, while no grants require that thefts be investigated. “He who pays the piper calls the tune.” We don’t pay very much of our bill for our
sheriff’s department, so our priorities are not his.
Arizona
wasted several hours of investigation; 2 days of trial; several weeks of jail
time and space; 2 years, 4 months of prison time; and the time of the Appeals
Court on me for loving my neighbor by growing and selling good herb. Josephine County wasted hours of
investigation; 2 days of trial; 7 days of jail space and time; 6 months of
supervision; and Appeals Court time on me for possessing and sharing pot
cookies. They would have wasted another
year on supervision, and perhaps more jail time, if I had not made the judge
discharge my probation because it could not be legally enforced for lack of
jail space.
Thefts
are not investigated; drug possession is. If the legislature would treat marijuana the
same as liquor, this would be a good first step toward aligning the priorities
of law enforcers with the priorities of the people they are supposed to serve,
by taking the mildest and most widely used of recreational drugs off the
illegal narcotics list.
The
Board of Commissioners should pass this Resolution,
urging the state legislature to pass the Oregon Cannabis Tax Act of 2008 (http://www.crrh.org/octa/law.html). If the legislature would comply, then I and
other cannabis users, no longer fearing arrest, would have more reason to vote
for the next sheriff’s tax district or levy.
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