Georgia Lawmaker wants Caning and Executions

[kmk420kali]

I just couldn't believe this....this guy should be removed from office immediately!! Turning in ppl that oppose his views...what a fucking POS!!

[Editor's note: This post is excerpted from this week's forthcoming NORML weekly media advisory. To have NORML's media advisories delivered straight to your in-box, sign up for NORML's free e-zine here.] State Republican lawmaker Tommy Benton (31st House District) favors “caning” minor marijuana offenders and “executing” those who sell the drug, according to a recent correspondence sent by the representative to a constituent.
In a July 29, 2009 e-mail (which was voluntarily forwarded to the NORML office), Rep. Benton wrote: “Thanks for the email. We will have to agree to disagree on this and whether or not money is wasted (by mandating the state to prosecute minor marijuana offenders). I am opposed to the legalization of marijuana. I think we should go to caning for people caught using and maybe execute dealers. [emphasis NORML’s] That would solve the problem as well. That is what they do in Singapore and they don’t have a drug problem.”
Caning is a form of corporal punishment consisting of up to 24 violent lashes with a long rattan cane that has been soaked in water. The procedure inflicts intense pain and deep, bloody lacerations that can take several months to heal.
Rep. Benton followed up his remarks in a separate e-mail on August 11 (also forwarded to NORML) in which he threatened 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 to the Georgia House of Representatives in 2005.

http://blog.norml.org/2009/08/12/georgia-lawmaker-calls-for-caning-executing-marijuana-offenders/

 

[EllieGrows]

Ugh. This kind of stuff is what makes me want to move to Canada.

 

[Paco]

that is so believable coming out of GA. No offense to any southerners intended; that place is fucked up! Always has been always will be. glad i got out before it was too late.

 

[VirginHarvester]

That's really truly pretty sad. I would like to hear his views on alcohol. If he believes MJ is bad enough to be caned for using what about drunks at football games and such? I guess there is no reasoning with people who are just set in their ways and relatively ignorant. What a complete jackass for even saying he's forwarding people's information.

Benton is a life member of the National Rifle Association and the Sons of Confederate Veterans. He is also active in the Military Order of the Stars and Bars, the Gainesville Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution, and the Jackson County Historical Society.

I guess you just cannot expect much less from a person of his background.

As for Singapore, that is an interesting idea- whether or not harsh, inhumane, and unreasonable treatment of users works. I also wonder if Singapore allows the use of deadly debilitating and addictive alcohol.

 

[K.J]

This guy should be thrown out on his head for being such an ignoramus.

 

[VirginHarvester]

This guy should be thrown out on his head for being such an ignoramus.

I could live with his position if he believed this about all drugs and wanted alcohol removed from society- which I know he does not and even if he did would make him still a moron. But I cannot understand the ignorance otherwise and the focus on MJ. Why be so cynical and suspicious about people's use of MJ? He's obviously ignorant. I'm sure if someone says invites him over for a drink or down to the bar for a few beers to watch Ga Tech play he doesn't think it's a big deal.

 

[bass ackwards]

If he thinks caning is an acceptable punishment for marijuana use I would have to think it would be an acceptable punishment for him for his work to keep it illegal. Once MJ is legal he should be punished for working to keep it illegal,and what's good for the goose is good for the gander.
It's asshats like him who are in a position of power with irrational views like his that infuriate me.
Stupid SOB should get what he wants to dole out to others!

Sorry for the rant, bass

 

[Gilles&Cheryl]

It wouldn't work anyway. Look at murder - a lot of states execute murderers yet they still have them. Punishment, in most cases, does not prevent "crime". This asshole thinks if we just beat people hard enough then they will conform. He doesn't know that there will be people who refuse to conform no matter how bad the beatings become.

 

[kmk420kali]

It wouldn't work anyway. Look at murder - a lot of states execute murderers yet they still have them. Punishment, in most cases, does not prevent "crime". This asshole thinks if we just beat people hard enough then they will conform. He doesn't know that there will be people who refuse to conform no matter how bad the beatings become.

Absolutely!!
Also, arresting Marijuana Users would no longer be an easy thing...I would not go without a fight!!

 

[Storm Crow]

If you are in Georgia, getting rid of Benton would be an excellent reason to get registered to vote! Such barbarism cannot be tolerated!


Granny

 

[timmy turner]

i remember how much the news media freaked out when an 18 year old US kid got caned for vandelizing cars in Singapore.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_P._Fay

"U.S. President Bill Clinton called the punishment extreme and mistaken, continuing to pressure the Singaporean government to grant Fay clemency from caning. Two dozen U.S. senators signed a letter to the Singaporean government also appealing for clemency."

 

[h^2 O]

I just couldn't believe this....this guy should be removed from office immediately!! Turning in ppl that oppose his views...what a fucking POS!!


http://blog.norml.org/2009/08/12/georgia-lawmaker-calls-for-caning-executing-marijuana-offenders/

yeah seems like quite a few things in the news lately about people saying REALLY stupid stuff....well there was the guy who said democrats should be terrorized, then Anne Coulter saying someone is on her "hitlist." Then the moron who brought that handgun to the town hall meeting and told Chris Mathews he would have felt safe if everyone there had a gun. Just all kinds of retarded people getting caught with their foot in their mouth

 

[VirginHarvester]

Absolutely!!
Also, arresting Marijuana Users would no longer be an easy thing...I would not go without a fight!!

Yeah, inflicting pain on people just gonna make Sour Bubble more popular.

Or, I guess, maybe his solution is to go the "legal" way and get oxycontin from a doctor to relieve your government inflicted agony.

 

[JackTheGrower]

Ugh.. What's his position on Women and Minorities ?

Kittens in a sack heading towards the river saying he's going fishing?

LOL

Was he the one kid that told on the other kids at recess too? I know that guy!

 

[JohnnyATL]

for the record, not all of GA is like that. In atlanta, most people smoke and its pretty relaxed. I smell weed burning all the time when im walking around the city. Its when you get out into bumblefuck where all the ignorant assholes and the people they elect live.

I actually know cops where i would at clubs that tell me that unless someone has weight, they dont even bother arresting them.

 

[kmk420kali]

for the record, not all of GA is like that. In atlanta, most people smoke and its pretty relaxed. I smell weed burning all the time when im walking around the city. Its when you get out into bumblefuck where all the ignorant assholes and the people they elect live.

I actually know cops where i would at clubs that tell me that unless someone has weight, they dont even bother arresting them.

No prob man...ain't no hating on the State...just the idiot making the remarks--
I lived in Meridian Mississippi...good ppl...shitty public servants--

 

[Hash Zeppelin]

you should start a thread that is called dont vote for crazy old Tommy Benton

 

[Islandbud]

The only one that needs a caning is this idiot !