Drug laws screwed

A man was arrested on campus last Tuesday for allegedly possessing more than one ounce of marijuana, which is considered a felony, and was held at Long Beach Jail on $10,000 bail.

A felony conviction can cost one up to $1000 in fines and a minimum of one year in prison.

Steven Treciado, 18, who allegedly possessed the drug Halloween night, may face these penalties if convicted.

He will become yet another non-violent drug offender clogging our state and federal penitentiaries.

Granted, with the overcrowding in our prisons Treciado will likely only serve six months if convicted. But to take away six months of young Treciado's life and to tie up our justice system by prosecuting for such victimless crimes is an injustice.

The Daily Forty-Niner openly endorsed proposition 36 on Tuesday's state ballot. The proposition proposes counseling and placement of non-violent offenders on probation. This is a much better solution than just locking people up for committing victimless crimes.

Though we don't openly encourage drug use or possession of controlled substances, we do believe that those who do partake in recreational drug use are usually  not violent criminals, especially those who use marijuana.

Everyone can find statistics showing that areas with high rates of illicit drug use also have a high crime rate. That is common sense, because use of certain drugs popular in economically disadvantaged areas is made into a crime.

When it comes down to it, we all know someone who smokes marijuana and would never commit a violent crime simply because he or she is too stoned to move or even think up such a crafty scheme.

To make matters worse, Treciado's bail was set at $10,000. That is more than some people pay for driving under the influence of alcohol. A typical DUI conviction lands a person in jail for four days with roughly $1,500 to $3,000 in bail. How can it be that driving under the influence is less of a crime than walking while possessing an ounce of marijuana?

This just doesn't make sense. This is not the 1950s. We now know that reefer is not going to make us crazy or violent. OK, maybe lazy and apathetic, but not violent.

It is obvious we need to reform our current drug laws. We are not even suggesting legalization of drugs, though that would be the best solution. There are many ways to alleviate the problem. Which one we choose doesn't matter, as long as we do something.