For once, the punishment fits the crime.
It's good to see that good sense has prevailed in the case of Robert Holding, the 72-year-old milkman who also supplied his elderly customers with cannabis resin as a sideline, with Judge Lunt suspending the custodial sentence, despite him warning that he was likely to go to prison. The ostensible reason is that Holding's wife, who has Alzheimer's, has gone into a care home and that in an "act of mercy", the judge suspended the sentence so he could continue to visit her. It would however be nice to think that perhaps he was influenced by some of the reporting of the case, with even the right-wing virulently anti-drug papers taking a quite apparent dim view of him being sent to prison for trying to help people with their pains, however misguided. Further evidence to his "crime" being purely to help was that he was selling the drug at well below street prices, making more money on his milk round itself. If all dealers were so publicly spirited, the war on drugs would be even more of a clusterfuck.
Labels: cannabis, crime, drug policies, drugs, Robert Holding
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Judge Lunt? There's a broadside ballad waiting to be written.
Posted by
Phil |
Saturday, February 07, 2009 9:32:00 AM
It's just a shame that we can't have more sensible thought on drugs policy. You only have to whitness the bat shit insane ramblings of Mad Mel today to see how muddy the thinking often is.
Posted by
Akela |
Monday, February 09, 2009 1:54:00 PM