cannabisnews.com: Prof is Proof That Drug Laws Need Change Prof is Proof That Drug Laws Need Change Posted by CN Staff on December 05, 2003 at 09:36:29 PT By Dave Zweifel Source: Capital Times Almost 10 years ago to the day, this column ran a letter from a young Madisonian named Dan Murphy, who happened to be serving five years in federal prison because he grew 101 marijuana plants in his home. His case served as a glaring example of the stupidity of America's drug laws. Because he had been discovered with more than 100 plants, the judge had no other choice but to send him away for five years. Members of Congress had written that law to show how tough they were about drug enforcement. Never mind that Murphy, who had suffered back injuries in an auto accident, had never sold any marijuana, but was growing the plants for his own medicinal use. Throw him in prison as an example. His letter described in graphic detail the conditions in prison. "Prison is a place where you hate with clenched teeth, where I want to beat, kick and scratch. A place where you wonder, how can this be, where I wonder," he wrote. Now some $250,000 in taxpayers' money later - that's how much it cost the government to incarcerate him for those five years - Dan Murphy is back contributing to society like he could have and should have been during those lost five years to satisfy the ignorance of self-described "law and order" politicians. He came back to Madison and went to a summer session at the UW to brush up on his bachelor's degree in sociology. Then he commuted to the UW-Milwaukee to earn his master's degree. From there he attended Iowa State for three years and Montana State for another year to earn his doctorate. Today, he's an assistant professor at Appalachian State University in Boone, N.C. The Winston-Salem Journal recently did a huge piece about him and a criminology course he's teaching at Appalachian State. He's completely open about his prison record and advocates for programs other than prison for first-time, nonviolent offenders and help for parolees to adjust back to society. In the article, Murphy describes in even more detail than in his letter to me 10 years ago just how prison can transform a nonviolent offender into an entirely different, sick person. On his third day in prison, for example, he glanced into another prisoner's cell. Shortly thereafter, that prisoner pressed a shiv, or homemade knife, against his side for looking into "his house." He told the Journal that he never made that mistake again. "You either learn or you die," he said. "I had lived the insanity ... and I decided that something needed to be done to address this issue," he added. From his post at Appalachian State, he told the paper that he wants to go into North Carolina prisons and jails and interview prisoners in efforts to improve their conditions inside, as well as to learn what can be done to ease their readjustment when released. Unfortunately, not many emerge from prison like Dan Murphy has. Most are turned into full-fledged criminals, a pretty stiff price for both the individual and the country to pay for 101 marijuana plants. About Dave: Dave Zweifel has been editor of The Capital Times since 1983. A native of New Glarus, Wis. and a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, his life-long goal was to be the editor of this newspaper. He has had more luck achieving that than his other fondest hope — watching the Chicago Cubs win the World Series. He served for many years as president of the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council and served two years as a juror for the Pulitzer Prizes.Dave Zweifel is editor of The Capital Times. Source: Capital Times, The (WI)Author: Dave ZweifelPublished: December 5, 2003Copyright: 2003 The Capital TimesContact: tctvoice madison.comWebsite: http://www.captimes.com/Wisconsin NORMLhttp://www.winorml.org/CannabisNews -- Cannabis Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/cannabis.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #2 posted by jose melendez on December 06, 2003 at 05:41:56 PT huh? how many orange or apple trees, or grape vines, is 'too much' . . . or don't you believe grapes and apples can get you high? paid warriors are called: mercenaries [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by Commonsense on December 05, 2003 at 19:53:40 PT 101 Plants I hate to be the suspicious type, but 101 plants seems like a bit many for just one guy. I suppose it's possible that they were all tiny plants grown sea of green style several per square foot and he only grew one batch a year but it seems more likley that he wasn't just growing for his own personal use. Not that I think he should have gone to prison for it even if he wasn't just growing for his own use, it's just that his story is a little fishy. [ Post Comment ] Post Comment