Letter: Punishing Ourselves
Jerry Thomas
December 19, 2008
The Hawaii Herald-Tribune (Hilo, HI)
"A Hilo judge refused to reduce the sentence for a 66-year-old Volcano man convicted of running a large-scale commercial marijuana growing operation. David Cother Finley Jr. was sentenced to 20 years in prison."
It costs about $25,000 per year to support each of the thousands of people in our prisons. Who pays? The taxpayers!
With the current recession rapidly pulling us into a depression, and with unemployment on the rise, a lot of the taxpayers are wondering where their next meal is coming from, how to afford adequate shelter, and how to buy clothing and pay medical expenses.
But not David Finley. He is guaranteed three meals a day, housing, clothing and paid medical expenses for the next 20 years.
Mr. Finley violated the laws against producing, possessing and selling a forbidden plant, and now he's being punished.
Our government forbids research that might justify the legalization of cannabis. If such research were permitted, it might easily show that the laws are erroneous and that businessmen like Mr. Finley can be an asset to society.
Let's stop punishing ourselves. | 
