State Rep Tommy Benton is one of 180 members of the Georgia House of Representatives, and honestly even with the tracking I do of the General Assembly, he’s probably not a guy I would normally have heard of. He’s in the middle of his third term, and he’s the Secretary of the Education and Retirement committees, but otherwise there is nothing that stands out about him from a casual glance at his House profile.
And then I got a press release with the full text of an email he sent that says (emphasis mine)
Dillon, Thanks for the email. We will have to agree to disagree on this and whether or not money is wasted. I am opposed to the legalization of marijuana. I think we should go to caning for people caught using and maybe execute dealers. That would solve the problem as well. That is what they do in Singapore and they don’t have a drug problem, but then they have less liberty than we do here. Tommy Benton / HD31
I don’t have a problem with the guy being opposed to legalization per se, it is his opinion and he is entitled to it. Admittedly, it is also a fairly popular opinion in this state, and even though I disagree with it, I’m willing to let that disagreement slide for the moment.
My problem comes from the idea that Rep Benton apparently thinks it is OK to torture people who have hurt no one other than themselves and execute people who have done nothing more than peacefully sell a product to a willing buyer. Should we now ban alcohol and tobacco – products that have been shown to be FAR more dangerous than marijuana – and cane anyone caught using them? Should we put every bartender in this state on Death Row for allowing people to get a buzz at the local watering hole?
Prisons are already overcrowded, and this Rep wants to ADD to the prison population? How does he plan to address the ADDITIONAL overcrowding at the jails? By releasing actual violent felons into our communities?
The State is already having to make massive budget cuts, and Benton wants to INCREASE the amount of money the Department of Corrections is having to spend? Georgia is a balanced budget state, and education is 55% of the State budget. Would Benton furlough teachers even longer – or even increase class sizes/cut teacher positions – just so these private businessmen could rot on death row?
Closing, here’s the letter that sparked Rep Benton’s tirade:
[Read the letter]
