Limbaugh will be a first offense user. He will probably nolo and get a suspended sentence at worst.

I invite you to listen to an hour of radio, on RealPlayer, courtesy of This American Life. The episode, #143, is called "Sentencing", and it was aired 10/22/99. As the drug laws have not changed much since 1999, one can expect that this kind of thing continues.

Some highlights from the program notes:

We've all heard occasional news stories about how some of the drug laws enacted in the last 15 years may have gone too far. First time offenders get locked up for decades. Judges--even Republican appointees--say that mandatory minimum sentences prevent them from making fair rulings. But have sentences really gone too far? This hour examines the areas where a consensus is growing on the problems in federal drug laws, and it explains the areas where drug laws seem to be administered fairly.

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Act One. What's wrong with this picture? The story of how a person could be sentenced to 19 years for drug possession--even if police found no drugs, drug money, residue or paraphrenalia--even if it's a first offense. Dorothy Gaines was an Alabama nurse with no prior record and no physical evidence of any drugs who was sentenced to 19 years. The only evidence against her was the testimony of admitted drug dealers who received reduced sentences in exchange for naming co-conspirators. (14 minutes)

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Act Four. A night in drug court. Before this show ended we wanted to know--how typical are the horror stories? What happens in a typical drug case? To find out, reporter Nancy Updike spent nine hours in Night Narcotics Court in Chicago. What she finds: the system is working as fairly as one could hope or expect, with one caveat: nearly all the defendants are African-American, even though the jurisdiction contains an equal number of white drug users. (16 minutes)

Perhaps Rush will be chastened and develop greater understanding for addiction and its effects on society. One can hope.

Regards--
Mary Anne