Montpelier,
VT — Those members of government who are willing to challenge the status quo
and stand against injustice are few and far between. Those members of
government who not only stand against injustice but take action to reverse are
all but entirely mythical. However, Vermont governor Peter Shumlin is one of
those people.
Peter
Shumlin just announced one of the boldest moves by a politician in recent
history — he is going to pardon thousands of people whose lives were ruined by
the war on drugs.
“Today
I am announcing an effort using the Governor’s pardoning power to expedite our
move to a saner drug policy and criminal justice system,” the Governor said on
Thursday. “Decriminalization was a good first step in updating our outmoded
drug laws. It makes no sense that minor marijuana convictions should tarnish
the lives of Vermonters indefinitely.”
According
to the most recent data in 2014, police arrested 1,561,231 people for drug
violations in a single year — 83 percent were possession only. Of that 1.5
million, 700,993 arrests were for marijuana — 88 percent of those arrests were
for people possessing the plant only.
“It
could have happened in the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s. There are thousands of them,”
said Shumlin.
Year
after year, and now, decade after decade, millions of otherwise entirely
innocent people have been deprived of their freedom, kidnapped, had their lives
ruined, were thrown in a cage, or killed by police officers who are just doing
their job while enforcing this immoral war on drugs.
Given
these numbers, everyone in America is either related to or knows someone who
has been arrested for drugs. An unfortunate minority have even seen their
family members or friends slain in the name of this immoral war. The effects of
police ruining so many lives enforcing drug laws have created the hostile
environment in which we find ourselves today.
For
those who were caught with an amazingly beneficial plant, many of them had
their lives ruined as the mark on their permanent records has left them unable
to find work — thus increasing their chances of turning to a life of crime.
Shumlin’s
program seeks to reverse this dangerous and immoral cycle.
“We’ve
got folks who got charged for an ounce or less of marijuana in a different era
when we were running a failed war on drugs. Let’s give those folks the
opportunity to have a clean record,” Shumlin said.
Unfortunately,
for the rest of the United States, this program is only available in Vermont.
According
to WCAX, the deal is as follows: if you’ve been convicted in Vermont of
possessing an ounce or less of marijuana, the governor is asking you to go to
his website between now and Christmas to apply for a pardon. The offer is only
being extended to applicants who do not have violent offenses or felonies on
their records.
“As
governor, I’ve been trying to lead a more sane drug policy,” Shumlin said.
Those
who wish to have their records wiped clean need only fill out a small form on
the governor’s website, here.
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Source : anonhq.com