Pubdate: Wed, 14 Oct 2015 Source: Asbury Park Press (NJ) Copyright: 2015 Asbury Park Press Contact: http://www.app.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/26 Author: Ken Wolski Note: Ken Wolski is executive director of the Coalition for Medical Marijuana -New Jersey. SENTENCE DOESN'T FIT CRIME America has the highest incarceration rate in the world. President Obama recently said the U.S. has only 5 percent of the world's population, but has 25 percent of the world's prisoners. What is creating this Incarceration Nation is the War on Drugs, nearly half of which is a war on marijuana. More precisely, it is a war on people who use marijuana. Take, for example, the case of Jon Peditto, whose marijuana trial is scheduled to begin on Oct. 20 in Toms River. Peditto was found by law enforcement officers to be growing 17 marijuana plants. For this non-violent crime he faces 31 1/2 years in state prison. The jury will not be told how long a prison term Peditto will serve if they find him guilty. The jury will only be asked to say, "Guilty" or, "Not guilty." Peditto uses marijuana instead of alcohol. It helps him to relax after a stressful day at work. He believes marijuana is a healthier alternative for him than having a few drinks. He also shares the marijuana he grows with a few adult friends. Is this a crime that is worth 31 1/2 years in prison? What if Peditto, or some of the people that he shared his marijuana with, had legitimate medical problems that only marijuana could help, but they did not qualify under the state's very restrictive medicinal marijuana program? It is unlikely that the judge would allow such testimony. Other New Jersey judges have forbidden such a defense. John Wilson was arrested a few years ago in Somerset County for also growing 17 marijuana plants that he used to treat his multiple sclerosis. The judge did not permit Wilson to tell the jury that the only reason he grew marijuana was to treat his incurable disease. Wilson was found guilty and was sent to prison. In the case of Edward Forchion in Burlington County, the judge refused to allow jurors to hear, among other things, that Forchion used marijuana as part of his sincere religious belief. Forchion was found guilty of marijuana possession and he was incarcerated. Is it surprising that there are so many drug convictions when judges refuse to permit juries to hear a person's only defense? In 2013, the state Department of Corrections reported that the cost to house an inmate for one year was $53,000. Taxpayers will spend $1.66 million to keep Peditto locked up for 31 years and six months. That's not counting the cost of the investigation that discovered the plants, the numerous - and ongoing -hours by the 15 officers involved in the arrest and trial, or the court costs, which include the cost of a Public Defender. Peditto reports that he had a "nervous breakdown" in jail following his arrest. If he continues to have such problems during his decades of incarceration, he will receive regular visits by psychiatrists who will prescribe expensive psychotropic drugs. The state will be obliged to treat him for a problem that he did not have before he was incarcerated. The costs to house and treat Peditto will skyrocket. If Peditto survives prison, he will probably not find gainful employment again and he will be a burden on taxpayers for the rest of his life. Somehow, all of these costs are justified by the crime that Peditto committed - gardening without a license. It's true - growing marijuana in New Jersey is not strictly forbidden. The Department of Health issues licenses to grow marijuana as part of its medical marijuana program. Peditto's crime really was growing marijuana without a license. The jury will never hear any of this. To counter this waste of resources, the New Jersey Municipal Prosecutors Association has endorsed the taxation, regulation and legalization of marijuana for adults. Surveys show that more than 50 percent of all Americans now support legalization of marijuana. Marijuana may well be legal here in a few years, but not soon enough to help Peditto. Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes said in 1902, "The jury has the power to bring a verdict in the teeth of both law and fact." Jurors can refuse to bring in a "Guilty" verdict even if all the facts and evidence in the case point to guilt. Judges in New Jersey will instruct them not to do so. Jurors who refuse to follow a judge's instructions may be removed from the court, and may face fines and prosecution. Still, jurors have the power to vote their conscience during deliberations and no one can stop them from saying, "Not guilty" if they believe the law is wrong, or wrongly applied. Hopefully, justice will prevail in the trial of Jon Peditto, and it will signal the beginning of the end of mass incarceration in America. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom