Et tu, Mark Kirk?

I just came across this Chicago Tribune article that outlines Republican Illinois Congressman Mark Kirk's proposed legislation to allow 25 year prison sentences for first-time marijuana offenders who possess highly-potent strains of the plant.

Until today, I had always thought that, even though Kirk was a Republican, he wasn't one of your run-of-the-mill completely evil and insane Republicans. He always came off as better than that: economically conservative but socially liberal - I can live with that. In fact, Kirk's platform seemed way more in line with my own personal views than the generally bible-touting Kentucky Democrats who only really concentrate on bringing in more pork. When I was a senior in high school Kirk came and talked to my political science class and seemed rational enough. Or so I thought.

I don't know if I've been clear about my position on the issue yet: marijuana is a plant that should be legal and regulated no differently than grapes; there is no rational basis for marijiana's criminalization; and one cannot seriously advocate marijuana's continued prohibition without completely ignoring reality. Yet Kirk seems to believe that increasing penalties based on a distinction that is almost impossible to determine outside a laboratory will work, because, the drug war has been so successful?

Anyways, I was so angry upon reading about Kirk's proposal that I wrote my second-ever letter to Congress:

To: info@kirkforcongress.com
From: [10,000 talkers]
Re: Severely Disappointed

Congressman Kirk,

As a former constituent, I would like to express how truly shocked and
disappointed I am in your recent decision to propose legislation that
would permit "penalties of up to 25 years in prison for a first-time
[marijuana] offense" (Chicago Tribune 06/15).

For over 30 years this country has waged war against its own citizens
over a non-addictive plant whose effects are milder than alcohol. 30
years later and marijuana has never been more potent or more popular,
and our country now boasts the highest incarceration rate in the
world.

1 in 10 African-American males in this country is incarcerated or on
probation/parole, but you don't care about that because there are few
African-Americans in your district. But do you know who you have a
lot of in your district? Teenagers. Teenagers with money, who, one
way or another, find pot.

I attended Greenbriar Elementary, Northbrook Junior High, and
Glenbrook North High School (where I was a state champion in policy
debate): I can tell you that more 1/4 of my classmates had tried
marijuana before entering high school and that more than half of the
students at GBN had tried pot at least once. Is this something to
celebrate? Obviously not. But if 30 years of a failed war on drugs
has taught us anything, it is that increased prison sentences do not
deter drug use, especially in teenagers who in all probability don't
even know the potential sentences. I'm not even going to mention the
shockingly high number of parents in the north shore who could fall
victim to your proposed legislation.

Who do you think you're targeting with this law? Poor people can't
pay $600 for an ounce of marijuana when they only make $500 in a
month. The only people who can afford such high-priced marijuana are
your own constituents, the affluent students and parents of the north
shore.

I have never been arrested, but I have friends who have been arrested
for possession of marijuana in Northbrook. One went on to graduate
from Harvard and now is at the top of his class at [] Law School
working at a top law firm downtown, another is at [] Law
working for the prosecutor's office, and another who was in the
smoke-filled car with them actually worked for you. Their lives would
have been completely destroyed had they been sentenced to 25 years in
prison, and the community, while gaining nothing, would have lost
everything these individuals have to offer (and hundreds of thousands
in incarceration costs).

Maybe you don't realize this, but the only individuals capable of
measuring the marijuana's potency level are scientists in a lab. Your
average north shore teenager (or their parent) has no way of knowing
whether the marijuana that they got from another north shore student
or parent has a THC content of 14.9% or 15% - a potential difference
of 24 years in terms of the potential jail sentence. Your proposed
legislation has no hope of accomplishing its goals and will only serve
to destroy the lives of the hundreds of your constituents (and
thousands nationwide) who are arrested every year with absolutely no
way of knowing the THC level of their marijuana.

You once gave me hope in the Republican party. Sure, Mitch McConnell
might be a hack, but I always thought Mark Kirk was above all the
hysterics and partisan maneuvering that has alienated every segment of
the population from the Republican Party in recent years. If you've
ever seen the West Wing, I considered you to be the Alan Alda of
Republicans. I was clearly mistaken.

I cannot tell you how disappointed I am,

[10,000 talkers]