Campaigning on crack -- Nagoya ex-lawmaker busted

[Taro Toporific]

[dimwit]

Big surprise!! (where is a yawn emoticon when you need it) If you were told that I guy spent 12 hours driving around in a van screaming repetitive nonsense at people what would you assume?

[Greji]

Big surprise!! (where is a yawn emoticon when you need it) If you were told that I guy spent 12 hours driving around in a van screaming repetitive nonsense at people what would you assume?

Yeah, but he was happy while he was doing it. Hell, a couple lines of sneeze and 12 hours is about a minute and a half.

[Socratesabroad]

Why not take a lesson from a fellow politician in the same boat?

Marion Barry, Democratic mayor of Washington, D.C. from 1979 to 1991.

He was forced to leave office during his third term as a result of his arrest and conviction on drug charges, but afterward again elected to the D.C. council and ultimately to the mayoralty, serving a fourth term from 1995 to 1999.

Barry was arrested smoking crack cocaine with a woman in a sting operation at the Vista Hotel by the FBI and D.C. Police on January 18, 1990 for crack use and possession. The incident – played over and over on cable television – produced what is perhaps the most memorable quote of Barry's long career: "Goddamn bitch set me up!"

Barry was charged with three counts of felony perjury, 10 counts of misdemeanor drug possession, and one misdemeanor count of conspiracy to possess cocaine; however, he was convicted only of a single misdemeanor count of possessing cocaine in November 1989. He was acquitted on one possession charge and a mistrial was declared on the 12 remaining charges.

As a result of his arrest and the ensuing trial, Barry was forced to step down from his position as mayor. In the midst of his campaign for a city council seat, Barry was sentenced to a six-month federal prison term in October 1990.

In 2002 Barry began a campaign for an at-large city council seat. But the bid was aborted after the U.S. Park Police alleged they had found small amounts of cocaine and marijuana in Barry's car.

[Blah Pete]

Kobayashi was elected to the Diet in 2000, and again in 2003

Probably were just Diet pills.

[Captain Japan]

Ex-lawmaker Kobayashi had a daily drug habit, aide says.
Asahi

A former opposition lawmaker arrested in a drug scandal used narcotics on a daily basis, getting high at home, in the Diet members building and even during the middle of his election campaign, police sources said Monday.

Kenji Kobayashi, 41, a former Lower House lawmaker of Minshuto (Democratic Party of Japan), was arrested Sunday on suspicion of possessing stimulant drugs.

One of his former aides said Kobayashi started taking the unspecified drug in autumn 2001, more than a year after he was elected to the Diet in June 2000 for the first time, the sources said.

His drug habit gradually worsened until he was using drugs every day, the sources said.

Police arrested a member of an Iranian drug-dealing ring on suspicion of violating the Stimulants Control Law, sources said....more...

[Greji]

[Captain Japan]

I knew they could work a FG in there if they tried! Great writing: "member of a drug-dealing ring on suspicion of violating the snort law!"

Yeah, I clipped it just after that part because I thought it was kind of funny too.

[guriguri247365]

dont vote for crack, vote for smack!

-Chris Rock