George Zimmerman acquitted

Posted on July 14th, 2013 by Global Ganja Report and tagged , , , , , .

Evidence of Trayvon Martin's marijuana use was allowed by the judge, but not submitted in the George Zimmerman murder trial, which wrapped up this week in Florida with a not guilty verdict. As a result, when the defense rested its case on July 11, jurors did not hear about the trace amounts of THC that were uncovered in Martin’s autopsy. The limited value of the evidence likely played a part in the defense team's decision. The THC level (around 1.5 nanograms, according to the medical examiner) almost certainly indicates that any marijuana use by Martin didn't take place on the evening that he was shot by Zimmerman and probably wasn’t even recent.

In addition, the idea that marijuana use might somehow trigger aggression on the teen’s part would not be easy to prove in court. In Time, Carl Hart, associate professor of psychology at Columbia University and author of a leading college textbook on drug use and behavior, put it this way: “THC in blood or urine tells us nothing about the level of intoxication. That would be like someone going to have a beer some evening, and when he goes to work the next day, you can find alcohol metabolites in his bodily fluids. That says nothing about his functioning.”

The Zimmerman defense team certainly wouldn’t have been the first to demonize marijuana in Florida. Even before the 1936 anti-marijuana propaganda movie, Reefer Madness, Florida police made headlines by engaging in scaremongering about deranged pot heads. In 2013, Florida continues to favor a heavy-handed approach to marijuana enforcement.

Regardless of the reasons behind the defense team's decision, the result is that everyone will be spared from the suggestion that a teenaged boy might somehow have deserved to die because of a joint he smoked a few days before his death. In Florida these days, that's what passes for progress.

From CelebStoner, July 13 

 

 

Comments

Bizarre double standard in Zimmerman case

Global Ganja Report's picture

Salamishah Tillet writes for The Nation that Zimmerman's past instances of domestic violence and sexual abuse were ruled inadmissible at the trial... while testimony on Trayvon Martin's cannabis use was found admissible. File under "totally out of wack."

 

Comment by Global Ganja Report on Jul 16th, 2013 at 2:39 pm

Right-wing propaganda machine exploits cannabis stigma

Bill Weinberg's picture

Daily Caller notes that Sean Hannity had this to say on President Barack Obama’s remarks about the George Zimmerman trial:

Now the president is saying, 'Trayvon could have been me 35 years ago.' This is a particularly helpful comment. Is that the president admitting because, what, he was part of the choom gang and he smoked pot and he did a little blow? I’m not sure how to interpret that because we know Trayvon had been smoking pot that night. I’m not sure what that means.

While Rep. Steve King (R-IA) is standing behind these helpful comments on immigraiton, ABC notes:

For everyone who’s a valedictorian, there’s another 100 out there that weigh 130 pounds and they’ve got calves the size of cantaloupes because they’re hauling 75 pounds of marijuana across the desert.

Just when you think America is starting to chill out and make a little progress on this question, these guys have got to remind us just how far we yet have to go...
 

Comment by Bill Weinberg on Jul 26th, 2013 at 9:39 pm

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