2.5 Grams
The United States Mint coin specifications.
A penny weighs 2.5 grams. By coincidence we find the 2.5 number occurring again when we learn that the penny is only 2.5% copper with the balance being zinc.
How many Americans are behind bars or on probation or parole for possessing an amount of a controlled substance weighing less than a penny?
Another parallel between the penny and the drug war is the fact that anyone charged with possessing a substance containing cocaine is sentenced based on the full weight of the mixture, even if it only contains a trace amount of cocaine. Even just 2.5%.
Truly we have entered into a new age of alchemy and magical thinking when we believe a lump of zinc is copper and a lump of baking soda is cocaine.
A penny weighs 2.5 grams. By coincidence we find the 2.5 number occurring again when we learn that the penny is only 2.5% copper with the balance being zinc.
How many Americans are behind bars or on probation or parole for possessing an amount of a controlled substance weighing less than a penny?
Another parallel between the penny and the drug war is the fact that anyone charged with possessing a substance containing cocaine is sentenced based on the full weight of the mixture, even if it only contains a trace amount of cocaine. Even just 2.5%.
Truly we have entered into a new age of alchemy and magical thinking when we believe a lump of zinc is copper and a lump of baking soda is cocaine.
posted by Terry at
9:31 AM
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