Pubdate: Wed, 25 May 2005 Source: Berkshire Eagle, The (Pittsfield, MA) Copyright: 2005 New England Newspapers, Inc. Contact: http://www.berkshireeagle.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/897 Author: Vincent Lee Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis) A BAD LAW PRODUCES UNJUST RESULTS To the Editor of THE EAGLE:- If the Concerned Citizens of Great Barrington really represent higher principles of appropriate justice for all defendants in the future, rather than just a getting a few friends off after the fact, keep up the momentum. Get the Legislature to amend a bad law, and perhaps find an alternate candidate for district attorney. The school zone drug law is awful, harsh and inflexible with only a tenuous connection to its stated purpose. It gives widely disparate results to rather similar behavior. For example, simple "possession" doesn't carry the school zone penalty. But possession "with intent to distribute" does. I saw two young women go to trial on this, charged under the school zone law after being caught together with $50 of marijuana. One girl testified that she'd bought the stuff strictly for her own use. Convicted of possession, she got probation. The other girl said she'd bought her share of the stuff for herself -- and to share with her roommate. Boom! Intent to distribute to the roommate. Two years. But the practical reality is that until a harsh law snags the scions of "good families," nobody much cares. Sympathetic poster children are needed. If social standing is not an issue, who do people keep bringing up the reputations of the defendants' parents? I know who some of the parents are, and they are indeed wonderful folks. But if the community standing of the parent determines whether the children should be jailed, then it is about social class. So some folks are mad at me for shining light on that secret reality -- but the fact is, I agree with them on the basic issue of a bad law. And about guns -- many of the people doing the Pittsfield shootings are young folks involved in drug-related disputes. Selling drugs isn't about peace, love and understanding. VINCENT LEE Lee - --- MAP posted-by: Elizabeth Wehrman