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GA. Lawmaker Calls for Caning and Execution of Marijuana Offenders

Via NORML, which is encouraging people to contact their legislators about marijuana reform, here's the e-mail that a constituent received back from GA Rep. Tommy Benton (31st House District). He says he favors caning for minor pot offenders and execution for those that sell marijuana:

Thanks for the email. We will have to agree to disagree on this and whether or not money is wasted. I am opposed to the legalization of marijuana. I think we should go to caning for people caught using and maybe execute dealers. That would solve the problem as well. That is what they do in Singapore and they don’t have a drug problem, but then they have less liberty than we do here.

Rep. Tommy Benton
tommy.benton@house.ga.gov

In a follow-up e-mail, Benton threatened: [More...]

...to turn over the names of citizens who disagreed with his political viewpoints to local law enforcement.

He wrote: “You and your cronies want it (marijuana) legalized so you can get a hit anytime without having to worry about getting arrested. I have forwarded your email to the Lowndes County sheriffs [sic] office so that they can be on the lookout for you. [emphasis NORML’s] Consider this my last correspondence on the the [sic] subject to you or anyone else who shares your similar “conservative views’.”

Benton was elected in 2005.

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  • Display: Sort:
    Well, it's the same old (5.00 / 0) (#1)
    by NYShooter on Wed Aug 12, 2009 at 07:27:30 PM EST
    vicious cycle; uneducated, socially low class, lacking self respect people need a scapegoat  to blame for their wretched lives. And there's always politicians eager to point them in the "right" direction.

    I'm trying to imagine what this guy (5.00 / 2) (#2)
    by Inspector Gadget on Wed Aug 12, 2009 at 07:28:02 PM EST
    said to get people to actually vote him into office.

    Caning? 'Way too modrun. (5.00 / 1) (#4)
    by Cream City on Wed Aug 12, 2009 at 07:53:29 PM EST
    Clearly, it's time to bring back our Puritanical punishments to match our Puritanical ethos, so it's time to start putting miscreants in the stocks again in the public square.


    Nope (5.00 / 2) (#6)
    by MO Blue on Wed Aug 12, 2009 at 08:05:16 PM EST
    Stocks in the public square need to be reserved for politicians who put corporation interests before that of their constituents in order to obtain campaign contributions, use federal or state resources for their own private use or propose absurd punishments like caning or execution for non-violent offenders.  

    Parent
    Well, there WOULD be lots of jobs created (5.00 / 2) (#8)
    by allimom99 on Wed Aug 12, 2009 at 11:30:10 PM EST
    in the woodworking industry, building stocks. I'm in favor of encouraging our traditional skills.

    Parent
    Get real. They'll be made (none / 0) (#9)
    by oldpro on Wed Aug 12, 2009 at 11:43:57 PM EST
    of plastic...recycled, of course.

    Parent
    Well (none / 0) (#3)
    by Ga6thDem on Wed Aug 12, 2009 at 07:28:06 PM EST
    we have over 10% unemployment in Georgia and lots of problems and this guy is wasting his time on this? Well, that's the way the GOP is here in Ga.

    he needs to be removed from office (none / 0) (#5)
    by Dadler on Wed Aug 12, 2009 at 07:54:07 PM EST
    he is not fit to serve.  he is barely fit to go to the potty by himself.  

    the people of his district should be ashamed he "represents" them.  embarrassed.  disgraced.  

    as woody allen said in "annie hall": what i wouldn't give for a large sock full of horse manure.  i'd smack all who voted for him with that sock, then unleash a plague of flies.

    i can do that, you know.  i went to plague training when i was a secret fundamentalist.

    he absolutely represents them. (5.00 / 0) (#7)
    by cpinva on Wed Aug 12, 2009 at 09:23:22 PM EST
    the people of his district should be ashamed he "represents" them.

    that's how he got elected.

    don't delude yourself, thinking he and the michelle bachman's are somehow electoral aberrations, they aren't. their respective constituencies knew exactly what they were getting, when they voted for them. they represent the "whackaloon" voter block.

    Parent

    Good to know. May I send you (5.00 / 1) (#10)
    by oldpro on Wed Aug 12, 2009 at 11:47:06 PM EST
    my list for plaguing?

    Parent
    Sounds Drunk (none / 0) (#11)
    by squeaky on Thu Aug 13, 2009 at 01:26:44 AM EST


    you might be right (none / 0) (#12)
    by Jeralyn on Thu Aug 13, 2009 at 01:59:47 AM EST
    You would think no one could be that stupid to write that garbage unless they were drunk.

    Parent
    What's next (none / 0) (#13)
    by Matt v on Thu Aug 13, 2009 at 06:46:55 AM EST
    on his agenda?  Stoning adulterers?

    I must admit (none / 0) (#14)
    by Matt v on Thu Aug 13, 2009 at 06:53:59 AM EST
    to being a bit puzzled by the term 'Marijuana offender'; I can't, for the life of me, remember ever offending the substance...

    Benton the Tyrannical Clown... (none / 0) (#15)
    by kdog on Thu Aug 13, 2009 at 08:14:24 AM EST
    is right about one thing...

    "You and your cronies want it (marijuana) legalized so you can get a hit anytime without having to worry about getting arrested."

    True...its called freedom, but its clear Bozo Benton prefers the Singapore way.  Fair enough, I'll help chip in for a ticket to get this arsehole on the next plane.

    Cane these nuts tough guy.

    Where's the original email? (none / 0) (#16)
    by jbindc on Thu Aug 13, 2009 at 08:22:58 AM EST
    Maybe he saw it was from someone in NORML and decided to be a smart-a$$ about his answer.  Would love to see what was originally asked.

    I don't think this was serious.

    It's serious... (none / 0) (#17)
    by kdog on Thu Aug 13, 2009 at 08:32:48 AM EST
    believe you me jb...I've had the chains on over it, its not that far a leap from chains to caning.

    Serious as a heart attack.

    Parent

    Well (none / 0) (#18)
    by jbindc on Thu Aug 13, 2009 at 08:37:20 AM EST
    The only links to this "story" come from pro-marijuana sites.  These are pretty outrageous comments - don't you think if it was serious SOME news organization would have picked it up somewhere?

    I'm not saying Benton doesn't like mj users, and I'm not saying he didn't write this, but as I said, I would love to see the actual email sent to Benton, and not just his answer, of which I still think he was being a smart a$$.

    This sounds like a fake dust-up to me.

    Parent

    One way to find out... (none / 0) (#19)
    by kdog on Thu Aug 13, 2009 at 08:46:48 AM EST
    I'll hop a train down to DC and we can meet up at Benton's office...I'll bring the spliff, you bring the cane, we'll see what Benton does.

    I haven't been in a real donnybrook since junior high anyway, I'm curious to see how capable I am to defend my inalienable rights:)

    Parent

    That would be fun! (none / 0) (#20)
    by jbindc on Thu Aug 13, 2009 at 08:50:40 AM EST
    Except he's a Georgia state legislator who works in Atlanta...  :(

    Parent
    Doh!... (5.00 / 1) (#21)
    by kdog on Thu Aug 13, 2009 at 09:03:32 AM EST
    Beg your pardon...my head ain't right yet, I'll be fine once I commit a cane-able offense after work:)

    That's a relief though...no trips planned to Hot 'Lanta so I'm outta this clown's jurisdiction...just the local stooges to worry about:)

    Parent

    The Original e-mail to Tommy Benton (none / 0) (#22)
    by Xclusionary Rule 4ever on Thu Aug 13, 2009 at 10:05:53 AM EST
    Here is the original email, sent by Dillon Thompson of Commerce, Ga, who I spoke to personally to confirm the contents:
    Dear Representative Benton:

    As a voter and proud citizen of these United States, I am very
    disappointed to read that you and your constituents are continuing to
    waste more and more taxpayer dollars as you continue the impossible effort
    to eradicate marijuana from this country through your failed "War on
    Drugs" effort.

    You are spending untold amounts of OUR money virtually using a bucket to
    empty an ocean. America sees through the lies of the War on Drugs and
    America wants marijuana without persecution. We already know that it is
    safer than alcohol, tobacco, and pharmaceutical drugs and with the fact
    that it is the largest cash crop in the USA it baffles many who realize
    that legalization, taxation and regulation is the best solution to the
    problem. The War on Drugs is a paramount failure and will never work and
    is, in fact, the direct cause for most, if not all, marijuana-related
    problems in this country.

    Are you aware that our children can get illicit drugs more easily than
    they can get alcohol or tobacco? That's because people like you fight to
    keep the control in the hands of the cartels, the gangs, and the
    unregistered, untaxed, street dealers, none of whom ask a buyer for ID.

    Please stop throwing away our tax dollars and please help put a damper in
    the Mexican Drug Cartels' business by legalizing and controlling cannabis.
    It is time to think wisely.

    We must end this insane "war on drugs" and we must use logic and common
    sense to deal with America's drug problem. A fast-growing majority of
    American voters agree.

    One on behalf of many

    Sincerely,
    Dillon J Thompson

    Parent