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Drug Task Force Makes Bust
July 30, 2009
A Flomaton man was arrested on drug charges Wednesday following an investigation by the 21st Judicial Drug Task Force.
Michael Andrew Sansom, 23, was arrested midday Wednesday after the drug task force executed a search warrant at a home on Wilkerson Street in Flomaton. Sansom was charged with unlawful possession of marijuana first degree and unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia.
The arrest came as part of an ongoing investigation, authorities said.
The 21st Judicial Drug Task Force is funded in part by a grant from the Bureau of Justice Affairs Division of the United States Department of Justice through the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs. The remainder of the funding comes from the Atmore Police Department, Brewton Police Department, Escambia County District Attorney’s Office, Escambia County (Ala.) Sheriff’s Department and Poarch Police Department.
Comments
15 Responses to “Drug Task Force Makes Bust”
first of all i’m just wondering how much marijuana was in this person’s possession along with the paraphernalia. what was the warrant for? does this kid have a record or is he an otherwise normal kid. this seems really drastic and costly just to bust someone for a little bit of pot that they are smoking in their own home. is this what it is coming to? does anyone realize how many folks in north escambia fl and south escambia ala smoke marijuana? and not just for recreation, but for aches and pains, chemo relief, easing cramps and pms symptoms, reducing pressure in the eyes from glaucoma and believe it or not a stress reducer. which would you rather take for your depression? something from nature or a pill the pharmaceutical companies assures you is “safe”? anyone for zoloft or lexipro or prozac? kudos to the recent meth lab busts and let’s work on a shut down of the crack flow, money well spent there. but wasting precious time and resources on marijuana offenses is ridiculous. do these task forces have an unlimited supply of funding? if so, then they can just go door to door and round up everyone that smokes pot in this area. and not just the kiddos, either. how about the otherwise upstanding citizens that hope they never get caught and are branded a criminal…farmers teachers policemen nurses doctors judges lawyers…you get the drift i’m sure.
Thinker,
Sort of funny you mention that, since the root bark from Sassafras has been outlawed since the 60’s… i was thinking the same thing right there with you.
I miss the old time taste of REAL root beer.
Good input here from others. Legalization makes sense. Fewer murders makes sense doesn’t it? Less criminalization makes sense, yes? People will find ways to hurt themselves…you can’t stop them, so don’t help them.
When I was in Junior College in Pennsylvania in the early 70’s a student film crew from the film class asked to interview me on my views about marijuana (okay I had a beard and long hair but I was a food and water “purist” and an organic gardener). At the time some teens were making a concentrated powder of sassafras leaves and popping it as a pill for a stimulant high. “Could you imagine them outlawing Sassafras trees”, I said? What’s next. Drugs can be derived from many plants. Heavenly blue morning glory seeds are one. They carry a warning on the packets.
Okay let’s do it. Let’s remove all plants from the planet. That should cure the drug problem. Stop the world, I want to get off.
legalise marry jane the world would be a better place. no one would be mad and to stoned to do crimes. they would all just be hungry
I dont know if it should be legal or not I do feel it is worse than alcohol!! I would much rather meet a driver on the road who has smoked some pot than someone drinking. I also think cigarettes are more addictive than pot .
We need to stop turning good citizens into criminals. Legalize driving while drunk!
We need to stop turning good citizens into criminals. Legalize marijuana!
There is a book published by a group (who I don’t agree with on all their positions) that covers some analysis on our War on Drugs and comparing it to Prohibition. It is Drug War Crimes: The Consequences of Prohibition by Jeffrey Miron.
Review: A balanced and sophisticated analysis of the true costs, benefits, and consequences of enforcing drug prohibition is presented in this book. Miron argues that prohibition’s effects on drug use have been modest and that prohibition has numerous side effects, most of them highly undesirable. In particular, prohibition is shown to directly increase violent crime, even in cases where it deters drug use. Miron’s analysis leads to a disturbing finding-the more resources given to the fight against drugs, the greater the homicide rate. The costs and benefits of several alternatives to the war on drugs are examined. The conclusion is unequivocal and states that any of the most widely discussed alternatives is likely to be a substantial improvement over current policy.
link to amazon for the book if you want to check it out: http://www.amazon.com/Drug-War-Crimes-Consequences-Prohibition/dp/0945999909/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1248974569&sr=1-1
A few comments:
One; if legalized, studies show that use will probably not change much and the notion that our children will suddenly become pill popping addicts seem a little hysterical.
Two: The vast majority of people in jail are for minor offenses which clog up the courts and over crowd the prisons, which in turns allows some serious offenders to walk out. We can’t build enough prisons if we are going to strictly enforce our current drug policy.
Three: Once someone is arrested for a minor offense and put into the current system, he is done as a member of society. We can say all day long that once he pays his debt to society then he can return but that is a fallacy. Once a criminal record is established these people are locked out of getting decent jobs and a lot end up back into the system.
Four: I’m not saying there would be no control for we don’t have unlimited access to any and all alcoholic products, and certain restrictions are maintained, and the same would need to be done in this case as well.
Another opinion for your consideration: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/walter-cronkite/telling-the-truth-about-t_b_16605.html
And here is one other thing to consider: how much we spend trying to enforce our current policy: http://www.drugsense.org/wodclock.htm
The laws on the books are plenty tough for everyone who breaks the law. However, if your district attorney doesn’t prosecute the crimes to the fullest extent then the judge wont be able to send these people to prison. The man arrest from flomaton could recieve 10 years for the possession of marijuana first and an additional 1 year for the possession of drug paraphernalia but in actuallity Steve Billy will probably reduce it to a lesser crime and let him pay money to go to drug court and never see prison. The first step is to elect a district attorney that prosecutes all crimes to the fullest. The next step is to elect judges who have excepted the fact that prison works much better than rehab. The US crime rate dropped in the late 80’s all the way to the mid 90’s. This was because more people were put in prison during this period than any other time in the past 80 years. This was the only drop in crime rate during the century. History answers our questions. I am all for voluntary rehab but it doesn’t work when the court orders it. Send there butt to prison on their first offense and teach them a lesson.
@Darryl–I couldn’t have said it better myself!! But, I’m afraid we’ll never convince folks around here. Sad, but true.
Yes I can see how making drugs legal like alcohol would help. There are so many upstanding drunks out there just doing great with the DUIs, child abuse, spousal abuse, bar brawls, etc, etc. Can you just imagine the idiots on drugs having a field day if it were legallized. And why stop at just drugs, go ahead and legalize murder. Yes, I said murder. Even though alcohol is legal it kills people. (there are stories all the time of a drunk driver killing others in wrecks) I personally think we should get harder on drug users. I have worked my butt off trying to teach my children to be good people just so the doped up idiots can come along and ruin their lives with a substance that will drain them of their money and ruin their physical appearance and make their minds fried!!! I actually want better for my children. I was visiting someone the other day in Flomaton, in the middle of the day and THEY WERE DEALING DRUGS RIGHT THERE!!! For all to see, they weren’t even hiding it!!! And if people could actually see how stupid they really look when they do drugs, Im telling you, I know this girl age 30, she has done drugs til she looks 50+ and she has NO teeth!! She used to be so beautiful. Drugs ruin You!!! And everybody else around you.
If you want to stop the violence, the gang activity supported by drug dealing, the severity of drug potency and all these small time punks, legalize it and control it same as with alcohol. The war of drugs has done nothing to curb use, created a black market system that is dangerous and vicious, and some studies indicate, in areas attempting strict enforcement, a dramatic rise in murder rates.
Death Penalty for 3rd convictions To get this scum off the streets for good
we need more drug sweeps in ATMORE from BREWTON these drug dealers need to go away. our kids deserve to live drug free in our towns. the law needs to make tougher penalties for them!