The War On Potheads
We aren't doing so well in The War On Terror, thanks to our little detour into Saddam country. But, thanks to The Patriot Act, we're rounding up a bunch of doobie dealers and charging them up the wazoo! Maureen O'Hagan writes in The Seattle Times about how the U.S. Attorney in Seattle dragged The Patriot Act into a drug money laundering case against 15 people:
The 15 each were charged under the Patriot Act with one count of bulk-cash smuggling. Nine others were charged earlier with international money laundering and marijuana trafficking under a separate law.It has long been illegal to take more than $10,000 out of the country without reporting it. But the Patriot Act strengthened that law and "took it out of just being a reporting violation to be a smuggling, trafficking type of offense," Greenberg said. The crime carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and the forfeiture of the illegally transported money.
Sure, you've got that free-floating anxiety about where Osama and Co. will strike next, but I bet you're feeling plenty safe from wafting pot smoke! Send in Special Forces! Launch the Navy Seals! Because all know what happens if these evil-doers aren't stopped. Yes, that's right. Then, the potheads win. Scary, huh?!
(via Reason's blog)