The Patriot Act: It's Not Just For Terrorists Anymore!
Meth-heads across America, watch out! According to this AP report, Uncle Sam wants you in the cell next to the guy from Al-Quaida, and he's going to use the new powers granted by the Patriot Act to put you there:
A North Carolina county prosecutor charged a man accused of running a methamphetamine lab with breaking a new state law barring the manufacture of chemical weapons. If convicted, Martin Dwayne Miller could get 12 years to life in prison for a crime that usually brings about six months.Prosecutor Jerry Wilson says he isn't abusing the law, which defines chemical weapons of mass destruction as "any substance that is designed or has the capability to cause death or serious injury" and contains toxic chemicals.
"Within six months of passing the Patriot Act, the Justice Department was conducting seminars on how to stretch the new wiretapping provisions to extend them beyond terror cases," said Dan Dodson, a spokesman for the National Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys. "They say they want the Patriot Act to fight terrorism, then, within six months, they are teaching their people how to use it on ordinary citizens."
Let's see...if weapons of mass destruction are now "'any substance that...has the capability to cause death or serious injury' and contains toxic chemicals"...doesn't this mean we have to send the (much-)alleged former coke-head George Bush to jail; at the very least, for decreeing that all those old power plants can now puff black smoke into our lungs with reckless abandon?
Sounds like a nightmare for the tobacco industry too.
Lena Cuisina at September 15, 2003 8:26 AM
A nightmare for the tobacco industry? Gee, Lena, I'm overwhelmed. I take care of the "boo" if you do the "hoo" so maybe together we can muster up a sob for the plight of the much put upon cigarette manufacturers.
Patrick at September 15, 2003 9:08 AM
Maybe someone else can find it within themselves to get a sob going for the SUV industry, too. I'm all sobbed out for today. The cigarette industry's situation really got to me.
Patrick at September 15, 2003 9:09 AM
I wasn't expressing sympathy, believe me.
Lena Cuisina at September 15, 2003 10:34 AM
Old news, Babe. Walter Olson over at Overlawyered.com had the scoop on this story weeks ago. That's funny, I hadn't thought of the potential applications to the tobacco/coal industry. Meth actually is, in the production stages anyway, an extremely explosive substance. Since it frequently is produced in trailer parks and motel rooms, it has the potential to cause injury to a lot of people. I don't endorse this prosecutor's reasoning (he is a prosecutor, after all), I'm just trying to explain where he's coming from, you dig? Where did I put that Doors album...
Jeff at September 15, 2003 6:39 PM
Thanks - I actually saw it there, then forgot where I'd read it. His might have been better (more balanced) from what I recall.
Regarding the dangers of meth and other substances: Coal, tobacco -- you can rope in just about anybody if those are the criteria -- even certain excessively flatulent types. "Beans -- they're not for patriots anymore!"
(Amy Alkon) at September 15, 2003 6:49 PM
"Meth actually is, in the production stages anyway, an extremely explosive substance. Since it frequently is produced in trailer parks and motel rooms, it has the potential to cause injury to a lot of people."
Great point! I've read a lot about the meth situation in Southern California, and no one ever talks about the potential for meth lab explosions to hurt large numbers of people at once. The stories seem to focus mostly on the harms of meth to individual children. Didn't a woman in SoCal just get convicted for feeding her child meth through breast milk? On my drive to work, there are 2 billboards saying "Drug Labs Hurt," with a photo of what appears to be a badly burned child. I guess this kind of coverage is helpful in mobilizing the Granny Patrols up in Lancaster. Why sit at home crocheting when you can drive around the desert trying to sniff out meth labs?
Lena Cuisina at September 16, 2003 11:02 AM
"A nightmare for the tobacco industry? Gee, Lena, I'm overwhelmed. I take care of the 'boo' if you do the 'hoo' so maybe together we can muster up a sob for the plight of the much put upon cigarette manufacturers."
First they came for the Communists,
but I was not a Communist,
so I did not speak out.
Then they came for the Socialists and the trade unionists,
but I was neither, so I did not speak out.
Then they came for the Jews, but I was not a Jew, so I did not speak out.
And when they came for me, there was no one left to speak out for me.
ñ Martin Niemoeller (1892-1984)
Annon at November 1, 2004 4:17 PM