Marijuana, Weed, Droski

I don't smoke marijuana at all but to some people it helps them stay at ease and better take on the day. Some might drink a cup of coffee to start of their work or school day and others might just smoke a fat joint. In my opinion, marijuana that could be legalized, controlled and taxed is a great benefit to the state. Although I haven't heard any cases of people overdosing and dying on THC, I have heard this past week that people are overdosing on synthetic weed and harming themselves. Chemist would develop these synthetic chemicals to bypass the laws and regulations, allowing them to legally sale these substances. I saw a documentary on this a while back.  

The DEA would target certain smoke shops selling as "herbal incense" but in reality its legal weed. Until caught, the chemist would just switch up the chemicals and resell them using legal ingredients. What I am saying, pot heads would do anything to get a high and would take extreme risk to smoke harmful synthetic marijuana just to bypass the drug screens. By legalizing it in Texas, licensed shops could label the ingredients (weed duh) and concentration amount of THC in each bag. Who knows what kind of crap these chemists are adding to synthetic drugs. It’s all for profit.

Anatomy of a False Confession

         Well, this commentary fits well with the documentary I watched today in my other government class, “Grave Injustice”. They both correlate with false accusations of crimes they didn't commit and spend years behind bars for no reason. Not enough evidence was gathered for these men to be placed behind bars. According to the Austin Chronicle, a case involving a husband who falsely confessed to murdering his wife but later getting exculpate due to lack of evidence. When it comes to the criminal system, I believe that there are flaws in the way criminal cases are handled. To the unfortunate, many people get nervous and scared whenever they are interrogated by police for a crime they never committed. They might say or do the wrong things that would only lead the police in believing that they have their suspect. Although innocent, one might just end up in prison because of the psychological manipulation by law enforcement throughout their entire investigation on their suspects.  I myself had got in a similar situation; I got pulled over by several APD finest officers in South Austin years ago and was questions and accused of having warrants out for my arrest for beating family violence. Although false, they were trying to manipulate me to see if I confessed to anything. Knowing I was innocent, I denied involvement with any crimes they claimed I have done. They were confident I had drugs and my vehicle and I was searched without my consent. Knowing they were in the wrong, they let me go with just a warning. Like the article states, “once a confession is made, it’s incredibly powerful…” knowing my rights, I did not confess to anything to those idiots if I was clearly innocent. The preferred interrogation method in the United States is the Reid Technique. The major problem here is that it is being used against innocent people way too much leading in false accusations and confessions.  I believe when people see authority in uniform, they get nervous and lead law enforcement the wrong direction.              

Longhorns and Beer! Why not?

 I think it is a wonderful idea! Beer at longhorn games!? Who wouldn't want that? It would make crazy amounts of money and would also help out the alumni and the community as well. By selling high priced, watered down beer at local events, the University of Texas can be very profitable. The money could be used to remodel the school, increase the pay rate of the faculty, or can be used to give Charlie Strong a raise! (NOT). The money can also be used in our local community as well. I know local downtown businesses benefit in alcohol sales, I am pretty sure it would be a great benefit to the university as well. The extra money could be donated to local charities and could help raise awareness to plenty of causes.

Pressure Rising in Texas!

Over 95 years, Texas has considered 17 year-olds as adults when it comes to they eyes of the law. Having a change in what is considered an adult in Texas would be beneficial for the future of our country. If Texas would raise the age limit of adult hood, we could keep non-sence criminals away from jails and prisons and get them the right help they need. I haved worked in local mental hospital and deal with these teenagers on a daily basis. Like the article states, most of our patients are troubled teenagers with mental illnesess, drug and family abuse. What the majority of these teens need is rehabilitation instead of punishment; a teenager needs guidance and support. Rasing the age of legal adult hood would give troubled teens a second chance to get themselves together instead of ruining their entire lives over some idiotic circumstances. Children take a substantial time to develop their brains. The average human brain keeps developing well into the mid-twenties. Rasing the age limit of adult-hood would also help improve the correctional system as well, freeing up jail beds for the more serious offenders in prison leading to less taxes being wasted every year. Teens in an adult system are 36 times more likely to commit suicide and most likely to get be convicted of a felony in the future. Raising the age limit would also help prisons save money from having to deal with probation and placement at an earlier age. Other states have passed this legislation and we should give it a chance of becoming law.

Corrupted Criminal System

An Endorsment: On Problem Solving and CriminalJustice- 

         This is a very interesting article from a Texas blog that I read on MeanRachel website. I don’t really know what the author’s name is but the author’s intended audience is the concerned citizens of Travis County and high-crime neighborhoods in the Austin area. The author’s credibility is the struggles he/she has been through at the low income housing of Santa Rita Courts where the author resides. The main argument in this blog is stating the grip of poverty, violence, and illegal activity affects nearly everyone living in housing projects. The author elaborates several examples that happen in the neighbor on a daily basis naming them “ugly problems” to wake up to each morning.  The author’s tone expressed concerned about the low-income community and wants to make a change. The expresses heart and strength throughout the struggles he/she puts up with on a daily. Those dilemmas are not only one’s troubles, but everybody else’s in government housing. 

          I agree with the author 100 percent. The criminal justice system does have problems, worse yet, causes more unnecessary problems throughout the community. Living in housing can be very difficult. I know several people throughout the Austin are living in those conditions. Lacking a decent job, having too many kids they can’t afford, or just having a criminal record for a simple “dime sack of weed” keeps people from finding higher paying jobs. A felon could of caught a criminal case 10 years ago for simply marijuana, now they are stuck living in governmental housing because the system created more problems. The author is reaching out to the citizen’s of Travis County in his/her support of Charlie Baird for the Travis District Attorney’s race hoping Charlie will work to solve the problems that led to the destruction in low-income communities. 

Open Handgun License

Open hand gun license are really abad idea! I agree with Doug Goodgame about not having open-carry laws at all. The audience the author is trying to reach for is anyone in favor of this ridiculous law.  As of today, we have concealed handgun laws in Texas and by far we still have plenty of shootings in public places. Also, there is always someone one the news being accidentally shot by careless people playing with loaded weapons.  Think about it, like Mr. Goodgame claims, how many accidental shootings would happened at grocery stores with open-carry licenses while careless carriers show off their shiny new weapons to each other? The Austin Police Department is already trigger happy, what makes you think that a 21 year old would be more responsible? Let alone, you can’t even get discounted car insurance until you’re over 25! Women can’t drive, we all know this, what will they do with a loaded weapon when their feelings take over after catching her baby daddy at the mall with a side chick. There is plenty of evidence in the news and media that the majority of people are careless and unknowledgeable when it comes to artillery.  Texas law requires for concealed handgun licensees to be over the age of 21 or at least 18 years of age if currently serving in or honorably discharged from the military.  To be honorably discharged, service members rendered physically or psychologically incapable of performing assigned duties normally have their service characterized as honorable.  An 18 year old ex military soldier with an open-carry license, or any type of carry license would probably not be a good idea. The person could be suffering from PTSD or some type of mental disorder but might appear psychologically fine when receiving his license? I’m just saying, open carry licenses would NOT be a good idea for anybody. 

The Wrongfully Convicted

My article was on an interesting topic that caught my attention.  The article demonstrates how awful our penal system really is to naive people. In America, we are as they say, “innocent until otherwise proven guilty” in a court of law. I believe there should be better ways to identify the accused offenders before giving them their lengthy sentences. According to this story, the wrongfully convicted victim, Timothy Cole from Texas, was sentenced to 25 years in prison for a sexual assault he did NOT commit. He was identified by his “victim” during a line-up and was given his hefty sentence. Thirteen years later, the innocent man died of a heart attack in his own cell. Twenty-three years later after his conviction, the corrupted system used DNA evidence to prove that he was innocent this entire time. What devastation for the family and loved ones knowing someone they truly love is innocent locked up and then moved on. I wonder how many innocent lives are wrongfully convicted every day…