Wrongful death in the war on some drugs

Prohibition unjustly claimed the life of Jonathan Magbie this week. The story has already been well covered by DrugWarRant and D'Alliance so I'll sum it up only briefly. Jonathan, a 27-year-old quadriplegic who had been unable to breathe on his own since he was 4, needed 24 hour care to stay alive. He was caught with about joint's worth of marijuana, a small amount of cocaine no doubt for personal use and being in proximity to a loaded gun in a car that he was riding in. (Keep in mind he lives in DC. It's a very dangerous city outside of the beltway.) It's not like he was physically able to go out and mug people with it.

The judge threw out the plea bargain and decided to issue the guy a death sentence. He sent him to jail for ten days. Four days later Jonathan Magbie was dead from inadequate care. The WaPo has an excellent editorial on the subject today but leaves us with the same questions.

But did Mr. Magbie deserve jail? Why was he sent to the hospital? Why did the hospital discharge him and refuse to take him back? Why did two days elapse before he could get his ventilator? Why is his case closed?

The first question is key. Did you feel any safer knowing he was off the street? Do you think spending the tax revenue to put and keep this man in jail in the first place was worth it? And should the penalty for personal consumption of a plant or even a drug be such an obviously predictable cruel and unusual death?

I don't think so either.