Apparently US Cops can Carry Away Cannabis with Impunity

According to the American Civil Liberties Union police arrested one person for cannabis possession once every thirty-two seconds. The FBI in 2012 puts the number at once every forty-two seconds, but that’s still very high.

For having only a single gram of a particular flowering plant on your person you can face up to a year in prison just for a first offence. And if you should possess a few ounces, or at least enough to be considered “evidence of trafficking” you may be charged with a felony and incarcerated for up to five year, or charged and fined for up to two hundred and fifty thousand dollars.

And be sure not to get caught with marijuana edibles, as a man in Texas may be sentenced to life in prison for selling pot brownies. Heck, even having marijuana paraphernalia on you person can land you in jail for three years if you aren’t careful.
On top of that the United States has the biggest prison population many tens of thousands of which have been placed there for three of the previous “reasons”, so you would think that if a police officer were caught smuggling cannabis he’d have the metaphorical book thrown at him or her. And if you did think that, you’d be wrong.

K-9 Officer Joe Avila of Contra Costa County, Virginia was tasked with and confiscated either four or five pounds of cannabis from a local UPS store. Upon obtaining the cannabis Avila radioed dispatch that he would place it in an evidence room and file the incident.

The only problem was he didn’t, instead he took it to his own home. Disturbingly, Avila apparently would have gotten away with this to if he were not under investigation after failing to file thirty-seven other reports. During this investigation it was discovered that Avila had been hording cannabis in his car and in his house, which he initially stated he was using to train his dog, but then back peddled upon further scrutiny. And of course police investigation of his home revealed that he did indeed have a marijuana in his home.

Despite the fact that Avila has not only lied to his fellow police officers during investigation, acted in an incompetent manner as a police officer, absconded with evidence, and is guilty of narcotics possession he’ll likely get away with it all. According to hemp.org the Contra Costa District Attorney’s Office is apparently “investigating” the incident, but the office “is not inclined to file charges”.

So while tens of thousands are subjected to years, or even the reminder of their lives, in prison for committing victimless crimes officer Avila can walk away with at most a slap on the wrist. I suppose the “moral” here is if you can’t be good, become a cop.