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My father, Antonio Bascaró, has been in prison for over 34 years, he had no earlier criminal record, serving time for a nonviolent first-time marijuana-only offense… all for helping supply a product that’s legal in a growing number of states. He’s the longest-serving marijuana prisoner in the history of the USA. Today, he’s 80 years old. I lost him to the legal system when I was 12 years old. I hardly remember him outside of that environment. My children barely know him. This gentle grandfather of eight spends his days in a wheelchair, mostly by himself, reading newspapers and listening to the news in his cell at a federal prison south of Miami. He calls me two to three times a week to see how I’m doing and staying in touch. I check on his health, we talk about plans for when he gets out, hoping that on the next Christmas, birthday, or summer we can be together. My father paid with his life (and ours) for that one marijuana offense. I think that the time he’s already been in prison is more than enough punishment. He isn’t a threat to society; he has a large family waiting for him and ready to help him re-enter it. That’s why I’m asking President Obama to grant him clemency, please.
Please, sign my petition asking President Obama to grant my father Antonio Bascaró clemency.
9 December 2014
Aicha Bascaró
Lawrenceville GA
Sign Aicha’s Petition
Change.org
https://www.change.org/p/eric-h-holder-please-grant-clemency-to-my-father-antonio-bascaro?utm_source=action_alert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=211546&alert_id=vrZNeWwTGC_l9qE8xsW%2Bb8xvSpMR13IbfOjd2SM%2FaxZ8%2BhIVLWN0GuE7u%2FOK7xySrAoaZ9vukR2
Editor:
The USA is the “Prison House of all the Nations”… not only do we have the festering enormity of the Gitmo Gulag on our conscience as a nation, we have more prisoners, both in absolute and per capita terms, than any other nation on earth. Some states in the USA are worse than others are… the worst, hands-down, is Texas… that’s because the Anglos have never felt comfortable in their possession of the territory since the Texas Anglo Coup of 1836. Remember WHY the Anglos did it… the Mexicans insisted that they free their slaves! It wasn’t a war FOR liberty… it was a war RESTRICTING liberty. It’s no surprise that Texas is also the leader in capital punishment. Following not far behind are the southeastern states of the Old Confederacy. There, the law does its best to victimise black folks… all one has to do is to look at the rates of white and black imprisonment and execution in those states.
The Republicans smile at imprisoning black and Latino men as it removes them from the voting rolls. Therefore, I make the following suggestion. We should legalise marijuana… grant total and unconditional pardons to those whose only offences were marijuana busts. We should restore their voting rights… we should wipe their slates clean. Of course, optimally, we’d couple that with throwing rightwing filth like Rick Perry in the slam for misusing drug laws to disenfranchise coloured men… but that isn’t going to happen. I predict that lawlessness wouldn’t break out. All that would happen is that crooked pols, judges, and cops would forego their dirty money and drug dealers would lose their lucrative situations. Wanna know who the crooked pols, judges, and coppers are? Look at those who defend the “War on Drugs” most strenuously… those are your culprits. It’s just like the loudest and most strident opponents of open homosexuals… why, they’re often closeted gays themselves!
Set the drug prisoners free and legalise marijuana. Drug addiction is a medical problem… not a criminal justice problem. In any case, marijuana use doesn’t lead to hard drug use. Keep it focused. Look at the BILLIONS we’d save on prisons… note well that the amoral moneygrubbing Republican rightwing filth DOESN’T want to save that money. I wonder why… so should you…
BMD
Voices from Russia 
Top of Trudeau’s Agenda? Legalising Pot in Canada
Tags: Canada, Justin Trudeau, legal affairs, marijuana, political commentary, politics, pot, Stephen Harper
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As one of his first official orders of business, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is focusing on legalising marijuana. On Friday, newly elected PM Trudeau sent a letter to Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould, outlining his administration’s priorities. On that list are some expected policies such as ensuring transparency of Supreme Court Justice appointments and an overhaul of the criminal justice system, for instance, but also amongst Trudeau’s priorities is creating a “federal-provincial-territorial process that’d lead to the legalisation and regulation of marijuana”. This’d be a major reversal from the policy of the previous Harper government, which enforced mandatory minimum sentences for minor drug crimes. The endeavour is also part of a broader goal of reducing incarceration rates among Indigenous Canadians. For the time being, regional police are using their own best judgement when it comes to drug enforcement, deciding when and when not to enforce existing drug laws. Trudeau wrote in his letter to Wilson-Raybould, “I’m deeply grateful to have this opportunity to serve with you as we build an even greater country. Together, we’ll work tirelessly to honour the trust Canadians have given us”. Together, the two have set their sights on some high-minded goals.
17 November 2015
Sputnik International
http://sputniknews.com/politics/20151117/1030231446/canada-marijuana-legalization.html