New Gallup Poll-50% of Americans Favor Legalizing Marijuana!

Oct. 19, 2011 - PRLog -- When Gallup first asked about legalizing marijuana, in 1969, 12% of Americans favored it, while 84% were opposed. Support remained in the mid-20s in Gallup measures from the late 1970s to the mid-1990s, but has crept up since, passing 30% in 2000 and 40% in 2009 before reaching the 50% level in this year's Oct. 6-9 annual Crime survey.

Now what happens? Sixteen (16) states including California, Alaska, Washington, Michigan, and New Jersey have legal medical marijuana laws and over 50% or U.S. Citizens favor the legalization of marijuana. Yet Federal authorities are cracking down on medical marijuana growers in those states and arresting not only the growers but also the medicinal users who purchase from these legalized growers and outlets.

California's four United States attorneys announced recently at a news conference in Sacramento that they've dialed up efforts to curb marijuana farming and retail sales of pot under the state's 15-year-old law. Federal prosecutors have sent out letters ordering dozens of medical marijuana dispensaries to shut down in 45 days or face criminal charges. They're not going after every shop in the state, but targeting those located close to schools, parks, sports fields and other places where there are a lot of children (which, come on, covers a lot of ground) and what U.S. Attorney Benjamin Wagner called "significant commercial operations."

"But I remember", said Federal Prison Consultant and Prison Coach Michael Frantz,  "when presidential candidate, Barack Obama said the federal government shouldn't waste its time going after medical marijuana users and dispensaries operating legally under state laws. Likewise, early in President Obama's term, Attorney General Eric Holder indicated that his Justice Department had higher priorities than busting medical pot shops." So ... what's up with the feds announcing a major pot crackdown in California?

"If you ask me", stated Federal Prison Consultant Michael Frantz, "The Obama administration's medical marijuana policies are now being driven by over-zealous prosecutors and the anti-marijuana ideologues who dominated policymaking in past administrations. Instead of encouraging state and local authorities to regulate medical marijuana distribution in the interests of public safety and health, his administration seems determined to re-criminalize as much as possible."

Frantz states that there recently has been a large upturn in federal convictions of marijuana users, whether medical or recreational, and longer prison sentences are being metered out for those offenders. He says, "You may be walking down the street thinking that everything is fine as a legal user of medical marijuana and the next thing you know, you are arrested and waiting for sentencing on a charge of drug possession. There goes your job, your family, your life!"

Mr. Frantz states there is something you can do and should do. Get a good lawyer and get a good Prison Coach or Prison Consultant. Visit http://jailtimeconsulting.com/index.php. If you have to spend time in prison, a good federal prison consultant knows how to minimize the time you spend in prison by maximizing the sentence reduction you may receive through the sentence reduction programs offered by the Bureau of Prisons, BOP. Two such programs are the 500-Hour Residential Drug Abuse Program and the Second Chance Act Program. Visit http://jailtimeconsulting.com/RDAP-drug-program.php. These two programs can significantly reduce the amount of time a defendant is incarcerated. Attorneys, unfortunately, do not know all the latest rules, regulations, and criteria involved in being eligible for these two programs. Fortunately, Michael Frantz and Jail Time Consulting do! They can assist a client in both programs and minimize his or her prison stay.

The federal government currently has a 97% guilty plea rate in federal criminal cases. Federal prosecutors have over a 75% conviction rate following trial, and 91% of federal criminal defendants receive a prison sentence. It's no longer a question of will I go to federal prison, it's a question of which one will I go to and how long will I be there.  If you are facing federal incarceration, isn't it time you called a Federal Prison Coach or Consultant that can help you? Actually, can you afford not to?

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Michael Frantz is a leading Federal Prison Consultant with Jail Time Consulting (JTC) in South Florida. The staff of JTC provides sentence reduction strategies, research, and many pre- and post-sentencing services for their clients. Michael has authored a bestselling book on federal prison titled, “Jail Time, What you need to know…Before you go to federal prison!” He has also authored over thirty-five JT Special Reports© on various federal prison issues affecting both the inmate and his/her family. They are available on the website. He writes a daily blog on the JTC website http://jailtimeconsulting.com answering readers’ questions and comments. He is a nationally recognized authority on federal prison and has published over 40 articles nationwide. He has been contacted by ABC’s 20/20, the Oprah Winfrey network, the Fox News Network, as well as many radio and TV stations nationwide. He can be reached at 954-522-2254, 800-804-4686, or at mike@jailtimeconsulting.com.