An interesting (to me) side note to the case I referred to yesterday was the defense offered for the murder. The perpetrator was, according to his story, high on cocaine which somehow is offered as justification for murder. This is a fascinating thought.
Use of cocaine is a crime, a felony if I recall correctly. Nobody with even the slightest amount of knowledge about the drug has any question about one thing; it functionally alters the mind and perceptions. (see also alcohol, marijuana, pcp, meth, peyote, and essentially the full line of drugs that specifically claim to be mind-expanding substances).
A person under the influence of mind-altering substances is still responsible for their own actions. I am just stunned that someone would conceive of committing one crime as justifying another crime. You do realize you were already engaged in criminal behavior? How, exactly, does that make it okay to kill someone? "Oh, it's not my fault...I was strung out on cocaine."
Unbelievable! Who ingested that stuff? Why would that provide a justification? And why should a young, theoretically law-abiding young lady on her way to school be penalized with the loss of her life because you wanted to get high? That is such a stupid rationalization I cannot even begin to express my anger that this is used as an argument.
Not to get too far into the slippery slope fallacy, but if murder is justified because someone ingested a mind-altering substance, what is NOT justified? Oh, it is not a crime that I shot that cop...I was robbing a bank and got caught up in the moment is a legitimate defense under those circumstances.
I have more to say, but this just frustrates me and irritates me, this whole concept, and the underlying belief that mind-altering substances are good, the whole marijuana is god culture, I think we will all be better off if I just clip it now.
2 comments:
Isn't murder in the commission of a felony suppose to carry a heavier penalty anyway? If the dude was high when he killed her, would that be murder in the commission of a felony?
have you ever read about the Twinkie defense? I'm not making it up. The guy who shot SF Mayor Art Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk literally got off because his attorney argued that he had eaten too many Twinkies and it made him nuts. He spent three years in a mental hospital, got out, and killed himself. Sorry to be so cheerful!
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