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Saturday, May 26, 2007
Busted! Cecil Thomas Can’t Get It Right!
Posted by The Dean of Cincinnati
Watch Cecil Thomas get basic facts wrong, as well as share his conviction that Hamilton County should be a dry county and outlaw alcohol!
In the City of Cincinnati, any possession of marijuana under 200 grams is punishable by incarceration of up to 30 days. The following states have decriminalized marijuana possession for small amounts: Oregon, California, Nevada, Colorado, Nebraska, Mississippi, N. Carolina, Maine, Ohio, Minnesota, New York, and Alaska—totally 12 states (source).
This factual information contradicts what Cecil Thomas said at the Law and Public Safety Committee meeting when they voted to extend the City’s anti-marijuana laws (click on the link and you can fast-forward to the final minute of the file for Thomas’ statements).
Thomas said, “The other 47 states have similar laws that Cincinnati has. The other 47. And in a number of those states, their crime rates are way down.”
In the video file above, Thomas claimed the other 47 states have possible jail time for possession of marijuana. While that may be true in some cases, the twelve states listed above have decriminalized marijuana for small amounts—meaning no jail time is possible.
In fact, Ohio is one of the states with decriminalized marijuana laws. According to Ohio, 100 grams does not get you jail time. But in Cincinnati, it can.
Thomas gave factually incorrect information at his committee, and this bad data may have influenced the votes of his colleagues. I call that a mis-vote, and the issue should be brought up for a vote again.
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26 May 2007 at 12:40 pm | #
Cecil uncleThomas is a dope on crime!
26 May 2007 at 12:44 pm | #
I don’t know these actors at all, but is Cecil Thomas Streicher’s plant on City Clowncil?
26 May 2007 at 02:46 pm | #
At least he didn’t run like a chicken when he saw the camera coming like other politicians do.
So as far as the person Cecil says was “shot & killed” in fairmount over $20 owed for pot. I see a record that someone was shot in the shoulder & was recovering (but I don’t see any record that this person died).
http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/AB/20070521/NEWS01/305210016/
Since people die over pot purchases, then maybe we should ban video game consoles too.
Killings:
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/s_482020.html
http://www.lockergnome.com/nexus/game/2004/08/09/six-killed-over-xbox-video-game-system/
http://kotaku.com/gaming/extreme-violence/uk-teen-shot-for-xbox-360-258820.php
Baby’s Death in fire cased by Xbox:
http://www.firingsquad.com/news/newsarticle.asp?searchid=15662
Plenty of people get shot in convenience stores all the time. Should we make them illegal too?
26 May 2007 at 06:59 pm | #
funnelcake,
That was my point about droopy pants—which of course can be applied to anything. Knives have killed people. Close the steakhouses? You get the picture.
If people are really dying over illegal pot purchases, that’s all the more reason to make pot legal.
26 May 2007 at 07:22 pm | #
Dean,
I see what you are saying.
When I look at the pot ordinance, I see it a little bit different. It essentially allows the police to stop, search, detain & jail just about anybody they see in OTR.
If this is what the police want, why don’t they just go ahead and pass a law that says they can do that to anybody without probable cause. (I know that would be unconstitutional).
As it stands now, (assumable) both you and I are free of these searches since we are not pot smokers.
26 May 2007 at 07:46 pm | #
funnelcake,
The Dean said:
“If people are really dying over illegal pot purchases, that’s all the more reason to make pot legal.”
So are you sure you’re seeing what he’s saying?
It is the illegality of pot that is causing the violence.
Thomas Jefferson caused violence when he made exporting potash from the US to Canada illegal by the Embargo Act of 1808. Potash! Do you know what that is?
The War on Drugs causes all the violence. ALL. The illegal substances do not. The drugs and the potash are inanimate. They just sit there (amused?).
26 May 2007 at 08:43 pm | #
The probable cause business has far-reaching latitude, which is upheld by the Ohio Supreme Court, e.g., failure to utilize the turn indicator when changing lanes, jaywalking, cracked windshield, etc. Petty, misdemeanor things can lead to the probable cause theory.
We’ve had people turn the probable cause into a race baiting game. This is so far from the truth. The police know who they can search on a probable cause, because they know the offenders & what they’ve been doing. Also, residents in communities will finger out the problem people, which is good enough for the police to invoke probable cause.
Some residents love this weed ordinance. It’s made a big difference in safety & peaceable living in some areas.
27 May 2007 at 12:43 am | #
Gallaher,
. Prohibition has caused more problems than it has solved.
I agree with you as far as the war on pot goes (potash we will have to keep on fighting
27 May 2007 at 10:18 am | #
Anon #7 said:
“Also, residents in communities will finger out the problem people, which is good enough for the police to invoke probable cause.
Some residents love this weed ordinance. It’s made a big difference in safety & peaceable living in some areas.”
Isn’t this frightening to you Anon #7?
Residents can be depended upon to help cops enforce laws that should not have been laws in the first place. Where will it end?
(Of course, as a peaceful anarchist, there are no laws that should have been laws in the first place.)
27 May 2007 at 04:14 pm | #
Cecil Thomas should be axed to take a drug test.
27 May 2007 at 05:47 pm | #
WOW! I can’t believe jackass’ like this run our city.
It is weed people, alchol is way more dangerous, but yet you can go into any store and get it. I think Hamiltion County should be a dry state.
He also didn’t mention how if there was one person that didn’t agree with the marijuana law that it wouldn’t pass. So what did the city do… the locked out all the people against it when it came time to pass it.
Nice job city council… lock people out from something they should be a part of. Weed isn’t the problem in this city it’s is the people that run it, the guns, the city not being cleaned up (well the city is getting sorta better as far as being cleaned up). Look at our mayor… he he threw that horrible pitch at the REDS game, instead of taking care of our problems he went to LA to do Jimmy Kimmel Live! and various other talk shows.
27 May 2007 at 09:44 pm | #
Hopefully, Mr. Thomas realizes that his comfy leather chair will belong to me next winter.
Mr. Thomas was wrong in the “facts” that he spewed at the pot ordinance meeting.
When asked about is sources, he stated that he found them “online”. Online is a pretty general term, did he go to city websites, or was he on chickenfuckers.com
I would hope that a councilman in a city as important as Cincinnati would have taken the effort to at least maybe CALL or WRITE a few other elected officials in these nameless cities/states? he speaks so freely of.
Earlier, I found a website that claims men can give birth, and should be able to do so in a few years.
Just because it is on the intrawebs, doesn’t mean it is fact Mr. Thomas.
Oh yeah, Ill actually share my source, unlike some people.
http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/biology/b103/f03/web2/vherrera.html
27 May 2007 at 09:48 pm | #
Per the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, 12 states have decriminalized it. That means no jail time, although there may be a fine. Several other states have allowed medical use of marijuana which means no jail time and no fine.
Alaska allows possession of 1 oz (28.35 grams) or less in the privacy of one’s own home. There is not even a fine. Even possession of fewer than 25 plants is protected under the Alaska Constitution’s right to privacy.
California says the possession of 28.5 grams or less entails no jail time, just a $100 fine. It is considered to be a misdemeanor.
Colorado says that 1 oz or less is a “petty offense,” not even rising to the level of a misdemeanor. No incarceration, just a fine.
Maine says that possession of less than 1-1/4 oz is a civil violation. There is no incarceration but there may be a fine of $350 to $600.
Minnesota says that possession of less than 42.5 grams is a misdemeanor, no incarceration, just a fine.
Mississippi says 30 grams or less means a misdemeanor for a first offense, no incarceration, just a fine.
Nebraska says 1 oz or less is a civil citation for a first offense, no incarceration, just a $100 fine. For a second offense it rises to a misdemeanor with 5 days jail time. For a third or subsequent offense it rises to 7 days jail time (compare to the Cincinnati ordinance’s 6 months jail time).
Nevada, for someone 21 and over and for a first or second offense, it is a misdemeanor for any amount, with no jail time but rehabilitation and treatment, and a fine. Nevada also allows the medical use of marijuana.
New York says 25 grams or less gets one a civil citation and a fine for a first or second offense.
North Carolina says possession of 1/2 oz or less is a misdemeanor with a mandatory 30 day suspended sentence, $200 fine.
Ohio (except Cincinnati) says that possession of 100 grams or less is a minor misdemeanor (i.e., ticket with a fine), no jail time.
Oregon says that possession of less than 1 oz is a misdemeanor, no incarceration, $500 - $1000 fine.
Some of the above states also allow it for medical use in which case there would be no fine. Some other states not mentioned above are: Hawaii, Maryland, Montana, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington, which allow it for medical use or (in the case of Washington state), allow one to use it as a defense in case of an arrest.
That means 19 states have marijuana laws that are more progressive than Cincinnati. Twelve of these say there is no jail time for possession of small amounts for first time offenders. Cincinnati has no first time offender exception. Most of these twelve allow multiple offenses and still there would be no jail time.
Seven additional states allow it for medical use. Cincinnati does not, although the ordinance could have been written so that state law (fine only, no jail time) would be used if the offender has a prescription from a physician. During the testimony before the ordinance was enacted there was testimony from some who said they needed a medical exception, but Cincinnati City Council insisted otherwise.
This business of “criminal record” is a little mushy. In its broadest sense, a criminal record contains every encounter with the police. If one gets a speeding ticket, is that counted as a “criminal record?” What if the speeding ticket is contested in court and is overturned? What if one is arrested in New Mexico for possession of marijuana but then is found not guilty due to the medical exception? Does that create a criminal record? I would say not.
Of course, Mr. Thomas said nothing about 47 states creating a criminal record during the vote, whatever “criminal record” means.
29 May 2007 at 05:34 am | #
and cincinnAPATHY isn’t even a state, per se....