Anyone read this NY Times article?

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/08/opinion/the-fight-over-medical-marijuana.html?smid=fb-share&_r=0

some messed up ish yo.

Feds are getting all antsy in their panties about states thinking they can trump them no matter how unjust it is. Pretty sad, like everything in this country common sense goes out the window and it just becomes a giant pissing contest.

Consider the case of Chris Williams, the subject of this Op-Doc video, who opened a marijuana grow house in Montana after the state legalized medical cannabis. Mr. Williams was eventually arrested by federal agents despite Montana’s medical marijuana law, and he may spend the rest of his life behind bars. While Jerry Sandusky got a 30-year minimum sentence for raping young boys, Mr. Williams is looking at a mandatory minimum of more than 80 years for marijuana charges and for possessing firearms during a drug-trafficking offense.

sounds like that guy was given numerous chances to take advantage of presumably generous plea bargains and he wanted to be a tough guy and take it to court

he probably would have gotten a slap on the wrist if he wasnt trying so hard to be a martyr

but i do agree that the federal govt needs to take a look at their laws since many states now disagree and a majority of the population.

Well I think 10 years isn't really a slap on the wrist unless I'm reading wrong. Where he fucked up was having guns present although I'm sure that's commonplace in Montana, if you can legally grow and sell weed in Montana why can't you protect your business like anyone else? Tricky tricky.

he was definitely being combative though.

The ten years deal came about after his conviction, they don't mention in this article what plea bargains he was offered before the conviction:

Leading up to Mr. Williams’s trial, federal prosecutors offered him various plea bargains, but he turned them all down. He believed, quixotically enough, that he deserved his day in court. He held this conviction even though prosecutors precluded him from presenting his compliance with state law as a defense to the federal charges. Without this essential context, the jury heard a deeply distorted version of Mr. Williams’s story.

After Mr. Williams’s conviction, the United States attorney general’s office came back with a new deal. If he waived his right to appeal, they would drop most of the charges so that he would face a minimum of 10 years in prison and pay a $288,000 judgment.

you have to read opinion pieces in the nytimes very carefully because they are good at forcing you to agree with them.

i can't believe i've been swindled. anyway if this guy wants to make himself a martyr for a good cause so be it. federal government is going to have to cave at some point (i think?).

i hope they do, but there is a lot of money being thrown at lawmakers to move slowly on legalizing and if im not mistaken the biggest contributor is police unions.

when something makes perfect sense and isnt happening always follow the dollar