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Fair ~ River stage: 35.4 Falling Sunday, November 8, 2009 |
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Two Cape Girardeau men receive prison sentences in federal courtWednesday, October 15, 2008The following items were released by the office of federal prosecutor Catherine L. Hanaway. Sentences n Name: Arthur L. Ivy * Age: 26 * Residence: Cape Girardeau * Charge: One felony count of being a felon in possession of a firearm and one felony count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. n Sentence: 85 months in prison * Summary: On Oct. 8, 2007, officers of the Southeast Missouri Drug Task Force received information that one of two men on Ellis Street had just sold cocaine base to a confidential informant. The two men ran when stopped by police. The second man, later identified as Ivy, was found in a closet of a house on Ellis Street. A nearby resident reported someone had tossed a handgun and plastic baggie in the back yard of the home. The officers searched the yard and house and found a plastic baggie containing cocaine base. They also found a Taurus pistol. DNA analysis later linked Ivy to both the drugs and weapon. * Name: David L. Hightower * Age: 24 n Residence: Cape Girardeau n Charge: Two felony counts of distribution of cocaine base * Sentence: 78 months in prison * Summary: On May 16, 2007, members of the Southeast Missouri Drug Task Force used a confidential informant to buy cocaine. Hightower sold 0.65 grams of a substance containing cocaine base to the informant for $80. Several hours later, the informant bought 0.31 grams for $40. Comments  Note: The nature of the Internet makes it impractical for our staff to review every comment. If you feel that a comment is offensive, please Login or Create an account first, and then you will be able to flag a comment as objectionable. Please also note that those who post comments on semissourian.com may do so using a screen name, which may or may not reflect a website user's actual name. Readers should be careful not to assign comments to real people who may have names similar to screen names. Refrain from obscenity in your comments, and to keep discussions civil, don't say anything in a way your grandmother would be ashamed to read.
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Lets do some simple math.
less than 1 gram of cocain equals
6 years in prison @ 25 thousand dollars
per year to keep behind bars equals 150 thousand
dollars.All of this while hard criminals
recieve less than 3 years.Its time we re-think
things in this country such as penalties for drug
use and sells.Prohibition is not working folks.It has as it always does create a black market where money
and crime flurish just as it did with prohibition of
alcohol in the early part of the 20th century.Why does
our judicial system punish drug users and sellers more than they do the rapist and theives and even murderers?
We are fighting a drug war that will NEVER be won.We are even using our military to fight it!MORE MONEY wasted!Its time we decriminalize certain controled substances like marijuana and cocaine.There has to be better ways to deal with the drug issue than what we are doing now.Simply put,when you take the money out of the equasion you remove the crime!The lure of money always creates crime.Decriminalization to a point is part of the answer to this on going issue.
GREYWOLF,
Your comments would be easier to read if you put a space or two after the periods at the end of sentences. Thanks.
Jd,
a very good point. I will do better
next time, I promise.
your EXACTLY right grey wolf, I knew they would start handing out time like candy when the new federal building was done. Its terrible they give out so much time for drugs. Just legalize them like other countries they dont have our problem so obviously its been proven it works
YZMAN,
Frankly speaking,maybe the new Federal Building
will bring in lots of tourist to Cape.Yep,I think
we need to put up signs on I-55 north and south.
The sign should read:
" Come to Cape Giradeau and see the worlds largest
pork barrel"!!!
Go wolf, go. Absolutely correct. Time to decriminalize this stuff, tax it, regulate it, and go from there. These druggies will eventually weed themselves out.
I'll be a dissenting opinion to Grey Wolf's suggestion to legalize certain drugs and controlled substances, specifically cocaine.
I'm not much of a "feeler" when it comes to other people's life decisions ... people make their own decisions and people should live with the consequences. We all know the rules. It's called personal responsibility ... emphasis on "personal."
These men were distributing drugs and were armed with handguns. I'm not too worried that our courts have decided to lock them up for 78 and 85 months, respectively ... I'm fairly certain they won't be missed at the next Rotary Club meeting or the community cleanup in the spring. And I'd also guess these men aren't the exemplars the "drug legalization" people would pick to rally their movement.
Personally, I couldn't care less if someone destroys their mind and body everyday. However, I do have an emotional response when I am being asked to then coddle drug distributors and criminals ... they've made a life choice to break the law. They're free to make their own choices, so long as they realize there are consequences.
Wisconsin,
you missed my point it seems!
By the way,the biggest drug problem these days comes from those who abuse prescription drugs.Mostly over 40 years of age!Surely you don't do prescription drugs!
The drug war is a joke and a huge waste of tax payers money!There is a difference between decriminalization and legalization!I will say it again. Prohibition has and will never work with humans.Two quick examples of this is prostitution and drugs.We already proved it with alcohol.There is a better way.
Grey Wolf,
Your measure of effectiveness appears to be "if anyone uses (or abuses) drugs, then the drug war is a failure." Not trying to make your argument, but that's how I read your words.
I don't gauge success by that standard. The fact is, some people will always use drugs ... whether based on personal rebellion, chemical dependency, or social experimentation. That there are personal failings in some segment of our society does not mean we should assume the same of others. Education, prevention, law enforcement and rehabilitation can effect (or deter) drug use in varying degrees.
Unfortunately, none of us can truly say whether the drug war was a success or failure. To provide a meaningful assessment, you have to consider what the situation would have been had the govenment done nothing ... that is, what would the level of drug use be without the drug war? What would have been the consequences had we done nothing? That is the true measure of success.
As evidenced by stats found at the White House Office on National Drug Control Policy ... (http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/), from 2002-2007:
- illicit drug (overall) use down 18%
- marijuana use down 18%
- cocaine use down 33%
- methamphetamine use down 67%
- prescription drug abuse (overall) down 18%
- pain reliever abuse down 16%
- stimulant abuse down 38%
- Ecstasy use down 40%
- Hallucinogen use down 30%
- LDS use down 50%
All of the above in found in their synopsis of the "2007 National Survey on Drug Use and Health" ... also found at the above site. While the above might give insight to specific drug use, the really important take away woudl be whether overall drug use is down. According to this survey:
- "an estimated 19.9 million (8.3%) Americans aged 12 or older are current users of illict drugs ... current drug use is roughly half of what it was at its peak in 1979 (14%)."
Based on this survey, it would appear to me that there has been some level of success in the drug war.
W
if its decriminalized then there wont be such a quick profit for the thugs on the street and would wein itself out, it wouldnt be instant because of all the current users but it would work over time, I could care less what people do to thier own body but we as tax payers shouldnt have to pay for such crazy time punishments because the man says its "illegal" its just nuts, look at what the other countries do they do not have our problem its proven plain as day just needs to be changed here
yzman720:
Could you share your source date with us? Which European countries have decriminalized what drugs and what have been the results?
I do hate it when those pesky statistics get in the way of a unresearched assertion. According to this report by the European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction (http://ar2006.emcdda.europa.eu/download/ar2006-en.pdf), your comments are incorrect.
When comparing their rates of drug use against those cited in the White House report (http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/drugfact/pdf/NSDUH2007.pdf), European drug use is significantly higher.
Here are the Europeans' findings on their drug use rate:
- marijuana: up to 7.5% (Europe) vs. 6.7% (US)
- cocaine: up to 1.2% (Europe) vs. 0.4% (US)
- Ecstasy: up to 1.5% (Europe) vs. 0.3% (US)
- amphetimines: up to 1.1% (Europe) vs. 0.5% (US)
Another key finding in the European report was that 10–23% of overall mortality among (European) adults aged 15–49 can be attributed to opioid use.
If you're really interested in finding out the truth regarding drug use in Europe, you can also look at the European School Survey on Alcohol and Other Drugs, located at http://www.espad.org/espad-reports.
W
hmmm all that time and all those statistics coming from the same gov't that doesnt want to change the current laws because of all the feeding they get from it, so you would honestly say that other countries have as bad of a drug problem as our nation does and they have as many people in prison from drugs as we do, if you answer yes than you my friend are a fool
awwww come on. drug use in europe is up 1.1 percent?? that's such a weak argument. our cost of prosecution has risen 21% according to the American Bar Association. and this is to put pot smokers and coke sniffers in jail. so we can house them and feed them for 6 or 7 years at a cost of $47,000 per year. the only people benefitting from this stupid assinine drug war is the police who get to keep assets confiscated and the prison staff who.. uh let me think... are funded by US the taxpayers. it's an idiotic proposal. this is where the political right has derailed the damn train. i'm from that side of the political spectrum but they depart from reality on this topic. but do not and i can't stress this enough.. do not vote for that idiot obama because he hasn't the backbone to change one aspect of politics.
yzman720:
-- It's obvious you didn't look at the source document. You suggest our own government is cooking numbers on European drug use ... uhhh, the report was produced by --> EUROPEANS <--.
-- I know it's inconvenient when statistics get in the way of your idea, but perhaps it would be in your own interest to consider the European drug rate as reported by --> EUROPEANS <--.
-- By the way, I enjoy your debate technique ... finding yourself without any substance on which to base your argument, you go emotional. Good tactic ... I hope that works out for you.
-- That said, I'd really enjoy seeing some statistics to back up your claims on drug legalization. The world is at your fingertips through the internet and Google ... I'm sure someone as bright as you could pull some authoritative data together quickly.
Wonderful Neighbor:
-- You fail the reading comprehension test. As stated in the --> EUROPEAN <-- report, the percentages cited refer to drug use across the population ... not as a measure of relative drug increase.
-- I look forward to more support to your vast right wing conspiracy regarding drug use. I wonder how President Clinton was co-opted for eight years in the 1990s to support the very same drug policies of the preceeding and following Republican administrations.
-- As for the increasing costs of prosecution, you may want to research the role of the criminal defense attorney in that equation. On a side note, the American Bar Association and the majority of lawyers are big fans of our Democratic party, in both support and donations.
-- And should you care to read this entire thread from bottom to top, you'll see that my comments were focused on those associated with drug trafficking and distribution. As you addressed the common user, my thought is a "two strike" rule ... screw up once, we'll help out with rehabilitation ... screw up twice, jail.
I look forward to your unemotional and well researched response.
W
Want to read some good statistics and facts on drug prohibition, try this
http://www.leap.cc/cms/index.php
All this comes from veteran law enforcement...good read.
This is a good read as well ... http://www.usdoj.gov/dea/demand/speakout/index.html
ya i got all emotional wisconsin you make no sense at that and you have entirely way too much time on your hands get a life, also my whole point is it's rediculous to hand out time likes its candy for drugs let people kill themselves unless its around children or schools.
Actually, yzman720 ... you suggested our problem would go away if we decriminalized drug use. To quote you (and your grammar / spelling): "just legalize them like other countries they dont have our problem so obviously its been proven it works."
Well, the facts say otherwise ... and you've failed to name a single country anywhere that has a drug policy we should adopt, which shouldn't be that difficult since "obviously it's been proven it works" ... right? Where's your case study?
And aa for the supposed failure of the drug war, where's your counter argument to the numbers below showing that it actually did have a positive effect? It's so easy to throw out words criticizing something ... ANYONE can do that.
Please don't flatter yourself by thinking it took time to counter your comments. The info was readily available ... and took approximately one commercial break to research and enter as a comment.
W
wisconsin im not going to even read yet another long response from you im done and not responding again just keep thinking your right and traveling down the same sinceless path we are doing....
notso-yzman720,
You've made wonderful, unsubstantiated claims regarding the drug war and the decriminalization of drugs. It's a shame your research didn't pay off for you. Actually, I'm not sure you did any research, so I guess no condolences are necessary.
Oh well, in this day it's more about bluster than substance. You certainly checked the "bluster" box, so you go right ahead and chalk this up as a victory for yourself. Well done.
In the time you might have invested in future research, perhaps you could spend it instead on a review of your spelling.
W