Wildo7

http://www.alternet.org/story/93082/

How rachel died
The Killing of Rachel Hoffman and the Tragedy That Is Pot Prohibition
By Paul Armentano, AlterNet
Posted on July 29, 2008, Printed on July 29, 2008

Rachel Hoffman is dead. Rachel Hoffman, like many young adults, occasionally smoked marijuana.

But Rachel Hoffman is not dead as a result of smoking marijuana; she is dead as a result of marijuana prohibition.

Under prohibition, Rachel faced up to five years in a Florida prison for possessing a small amount of marijuana. (Under state law, violators face up to a $5,000 fine and five years in prison for possession of more than 20 grams of pot.)

Under prohibition, the police in Rachel's community viewed the 23-year-old recent college graduate as nothing more than a criminal and threatened her with jail time unless she cooperated with them as an untrained, unsupervised confidential informant. Her assignment: Meet with two men she'd never met and purchase a large quantity of cocaine, ecstasy and a handgun. Rachel rendezvoused with the two men; they shot and killed her.

PatriotsReign

Well, that was just stupid. This is waaayyyy out of the ordinary in the US.

Pot SHOULD be legal...but no other recreational drugs should be. So this scenario could again arise even if pot became legal with ecstasy or cocaine. Drugs in general should not be legal. I don't think there is a solid debate to counter that. Yes, there are debates, but in my opinion they are not solid.

Do people die because of the fact drugs are illegal? Yes, of course but that's not a good reason to legalize them.

DarrylS

A better source than Alternet..

http://tallahassee.com/apps/pbcs.dll...5090343/0/COMP

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Wildo7

Um drugs should be legal. Nobody has the right to tell me what I can and can't put in my body. There's virtually no solid argument for keeping them illegal. And that's not what the article is about. The fact that they are illegal is one thing, the draconian penalties are another. The police that forced this girl into this situation should be in jail.

Patters

Glad you posted that, especially because the Alternet story was written by someone who writes for NORML! (In the late '70s, I knew someone who did some work for NORML. He said every afternoon around 3 pm they took a pot break after which absolutely nothing got done!)

The story you posted makes it sound like the police are trying to cover their asses, knowing they're going face a big lawsuit and, who knows, maybe even criminal complaints. At any rate, it's a very sad story.

scout

That's f'd up.
I believe if your pulled over in Florida and have a small amount of pot, they confiscate it, and your on your way, as its a misdemeanor (go to court for a small fine). So, Rachel has over that amount and is on prohibition which translates to going under cover to purchase drugs that are to marijuana what a Hummer 3 is to an Abrams Tank.
Great, the law enforcement got a pot smoker off the street.
I wonder if they caught the drug dealers................maybe they offered them a deal.

PatriotsReign

I agree 100% with the bolded above.

I like that drugs are illegal (except pot) and hope it remains that way. At least that is my vote. I don't want to have to start paying taxes

363839

This might be a little off topic but it always irritates me when the news reports about a big drug bust it always seems to be Pot.
Because people are such a danger to themselves and others.

Why is it never a big heroin or crack bust or any other drug that really does turn people loony. Weed just makes you a little sleepy and crave chocolate. But I've never seen or heard of a stoner mugging somebody for a fix of chocolate.
Though it seems a bit hypocritical to say, I have to agree with the poster that stated that weed should be legal but no other recreational drug....
except of course caffeine....
.....oh yeah, and alcohol..
...and nicotine, too.
and extacy.
All right. Maybe not extacy then. (I can't even spell it)

PatriotsReign

Caffeine & nicotene aren't drugs but alcohol is. I think to be classified as a drug, it has to be mind altering to some extent...actually, I don't know why they're not drugs, but they aren't.

I did ecstacy back when it first came out...around 1981. The best buzz I ever had and I've never done it since.

Real World

First and foremost, as is always the case, her death is obviously tragic. She's not some loser child molester, or some home invader. She's simply a 23 year old who likes to do drugs. Having dabbled a bit myself, and having grown up where I've grown up, people like her aren't necessarily evil. Never the less, the law is the law when it comes to drugs (I think pot should be legalized and regulated). Some cops let you pass if you got a joint on you, but if you've got pot & ectasy in your possesion, you're getting run without question. Especially if you were this woman, who had been arrested for possesion before this most recent incedent, and was on probation.

So how did she die? What led to her being shot? Did the police send her into a bad situation? Did they not protect her? Hmm...

I've had friends get pinched for similar reasons, who ended up cooperating with the cops to bust the people they purchased from, in exchange for a lighter sentence. Doing this comes with risks. If she met them on her own, ignoring police protocol, then who's to blame here? Again, her death is tragic, but it's not soley (there is always some blame to go around) the pots fault, the cops, or the laws that prohibit it. Her death is the fault of those two animals who killed her, and her own for putting herself in a position where it could occur. I know, I'm an uncompassionate arsehole. Whatever. If I go drink a 6 pack and kill myself on the way home, it's my fault. My death, heaven forbid, would be tragic, but it'd be my own fault for putting myself in such a position. Remember, she didn't have to agree to do this. She could have accepted whatever punishment the court levied upon her. Where I'd question the judgement of police, is putting a woman who had possesion charges against her, into a deal where a weapon was being purchased. Obviously these guys weren't your local dime baggers, if they'll selling a gun. I think that's a bad situation for this woman to be in, even with police protection.

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"The most difficult subjects can be explained to the most slow-witted man if he has not formed any idea of them already; but the simplest thing cannot be made clear to the most intelligent man if he is firmly persuaded that he knows already, without a shadow of doubt, what is laid before him."
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