3/13/94
If you haven't yet written to the Federal Sentencing Commission in support of FAMM's marijuana amendment, this is your last chance. Correspondence must be received in Washington before the 18th of this month. You can also call. Please use the information supplied below to write or call in support of the FAMM amendment:
Families Against Mandatory Minimums (FAMM) has submitted a proposed amendment to the Federal Sentencing Guidelines that would effectively reduce marijuana sentences by years. Current guidelines use a weight equivalency of 100 grams per marijuana plant to determine sentencing - but only for the first 49 plants. Plants number 50 and up are considered to weigh 1 kilogram, ten times as much. This has the perverse effect that a person growing 49 marijuana plants receives a sentence ranging from 10 to 16 months, while a person growing just one plant more receives a sentence ranging from 33 to 41 months, two to four times long. The FAMM amendment would reduce that sentence to 15 to 21 months, by having the 100 gram weight equivalency used for all plants, not just the first 49.
There's real hope that this reform could become real - the chairman of the U.S. Sentencing Commission, Judge William Wilkins, has endorsed some sentencing reform, saying "It's important not to overpunish". We can help by writing to the Sentencing Commission and asking them to enact FAMM's amendment, called the "Marijuana Amendment". All such correspondence must be received by the Sentencing Commission no later than March 18th. When you write, be sure to state clearly that you support the Marijuana Amendment, establishing a 100 gram-per-plant equivalency for 50 or more plants. And say that you wish the reform to be retroactive (get some people out early). Send your letter to:
Michael Courlander
Public Information Specialist
U.S. Sentencing Commission
1 Columbus Circle, N.E.
Suite 2-500, South Lobby
Washington, D.C. 20002-8002
You can also call the Sentencing Commission, at 202/273-4590, to voice your support for the Marijuana Amendment.
Passage of this amendment could literally mean years of freedom for many people. Please send your letter before March 15th.
Information for these two announcements was supplied courtesy of Rob Kampia of the National Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML). You can get more information about NORML by calling 202/483-5500, faxing to 202/483-0057, or writing to:
NORML
1001 Connecticut Ave, N.W., Suite 1010
Washington, D.C. 20036
If you like what you see here and want to get these bulletins by e-mail, please fill out our quick signup form at http://www.drcnet.org/signup.html.
