Marijuana: Georgia Grand Jury Foreman Says Legalize It
Grand juries are charged with evaluating potential crimes presented to them by prosecutors and deciding whether indictments are merited. The grand jury empanelled in March in Chatham County, Georgia, did just that, delivering numerous indictments for drugs and other criminal offenses.
But grand juries and their foreman also have the opportunity to speak their minds about what they have observed while serving. The Chatham County grand jury did so in its final report to Superior Court Judge Perry Brannen.
Its observations and recommendations were not surprising. "A high percentage of our cases were drug-related and a high percentage were repeat offenders," the grand jury noted. Authorities should "institute more effective methods of drug treatment and rehabilitation aimed at minimizing repeat offenders" and "as far as possible, use stricter or more effective methods of punishment," the jurors recommended.
While the grand jury's recommendations were pretty standard stuff, grand jury foreman Gordon Varnadoe used the opportunity to call for the legalization, regulation, and taxation of marijuana sales in his personal recommendations. Varnadoe also called for the legalization of prostitution.
"It is my considered and strong opinion that marijuana should be legal, controlled, and taxed," Varnadoe wrote. "There is no evidence that it is a 'gateway drug' that leads to other drugs. It is not found to be present in cases of domestic violence, highway fatalities, or death caused by consumption. This can be completely turned around to change from a tax burden and expense to a source of great revenue."
The grand jury reports are not binding, and a grand jury or foreman using them as a platform to call for drug law reform is rare. But it has happened before.
As Eric Sterling of the Criminal Justice Policy Foundation reminds, drug policy reform has also been on the mind of grand juries in at least one large American city, Baltimore. In 1995, a city of Baltimore grand jury issued a report that studied drug law enforcement during its September 1994 term. While that grand jury said "legalization is not an acceptable solution" to the larger drug problem, it also recommended that "consideration be given to decriminalizing marijuana" and "medicalization may be the best solution for managing addiction and drug proliferation."
By the summer of 2003, another Baltimore grand jury was ready to go further. In its report, that grand jury called for the "regulated distribution" of now illegal drugs -- not just marijuana. That grand jury report helped lay the groundwork for hearings in the Maryland Senate in 2003 where drug reformers got an opportunity to lay out the rationale for reform.
While usually considered the domain of prosecutors -- "a grand jury would indict a ham sandwich if a prosecutor told it to," goes the old saw -- grand juries have a chance to speak their minds in their reports, and perhaps lead the way to a reconsideration of current policies. There is as yet no sign that the Chatham County grand jury foreman's recommendations will lead to similar reflection, but it is a start. As drug policy reform makes its long march through the institutions of society, the grand jury should not be forgotten.
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Comment posted by Anonymous on Fri, 07/11/2008 - 10:47amI'm Still over whelmed at the Blind & Profiteers that lead the judical systems on Criminal treatment of Marijuana users...recreational ..Or prescribed...3.2 million folks...incarcerated..at a cost of over a billon dollars a Week ...just to house them...What The Fluck??
The Plant (Weed) has been around for ten thousand years...has never directly killed anyone...I know folks that smoke it Regularly ...for 50 years...I don't know to many that have served that long with alcohol..tobacco..or the Worst...Legal...Prescribed drugs...Lets go back to 1936...& follow the foot steps...of the destroyers...Hearst & Angslinger...How could America be so Blind??
OPPS...We went blind with the bush administration...so I guess some things haven't change...Lets Move Forward Folks....Our deficite...is far beyond my kids repair...today
Drug Testing
Comment posted by Anonymous on Fri, 07/11/2008 - 12:45pmWhat really amazes me is that as a whole, we the people of the united states allow our government to give power to private citizens to TRAMPLE our constitutional rights! The 5th amendment of the constitution says that we cannot, as citizens, be forced to incriminate ourselves. However, on a daily basis in this country, americans are forced to give their urine or blood for testing for drugs. Drugs are illegal substances in the united states, and you are held in jeopardy of losing your job, or other, worse things, if you test positive. As I see it, that is forcing you to incriminate yourself, don't you think? Now is that NOT a violation of your right AGAINST self incrimination? Wake up america, your personal liberties are being stolen from you daily.
Those who would give up their essential liberties to achieve a measure of security, deserve neither - Benjamin Franklin, Congress, 1776
Liberty for security
Comment posted by Anonymous on Sun, 07/13/2008 - 9:53amWhat security? The world is no more secure now, because of the Iraq situation, than it was before. The same can be said in regards to the phony drugwar. It's not about security anyway. It's all about $$$. But Ben was right, we are undeserving. Yet ,we deserve what we get.Which is ,in all likelyhood,more of the same..".for change", you know.
LEAP Candidate
Comment posted by Anonymous on Mon, 07/14/2008 - 7:52amThe Grand Jury Foreman needs to be made an honorary member of LEAP, since he's views are exactly the same; legalize, control and regulate. Someone should get to this guy and "induct" him.
Legalize Pot
Comment posted by Anonymous on Mon, 07/21/2008 - 4:51amMarijuana has never hurt anybody, at all.
You can have your deadly alcohol and nicotine, but we can't have our harmless, therapeutic marijuana.
What a big "fuck you".
Legalize Weed
Comment posted by Anonymous on Wed, 11/12/2008 - 1:30amI think that legalizing marijuana is a good choice. Over 18 million people are already doing it and we are wasting too much money on it.
We are spending billions of dollars on the war of drugs. We are not focusing on real crimes that willhttps://www.blogger.com/comment.do potentially hurt our economy. In Ontario Canada marijuana is legal.
Many people will argue that marijuana is bad, but so is alcohol and cigarretes. Alcohol is our leading cause of motor vehicle deaths, and cigarettes cause cancer, leading to death. Marijuana is a drug that many people think will make you hallucinate, but it really isnt. It puts you in a different atmosphere making you happy.
Also, if we were to sell marijuana in stores the government would be able to tax it and fund money for projects needed in society. Money would be able to be funded for schools, libraries, bridges, etc.
This is my personal opinion on the legalization of marijuana.
we can and will beat these devils
Comment posted by Anonymous on Fri, 07/11/2008 - 8:39amthrough jury nulification .prosicuters had better find somebody else to pick on as thier days of trumped up cases for marijuana are over it should be phisicaly dangerous for them to sugest making cases involving marijuana wtf.