Since the ‘650 Lifer Law’ was first introduced in the state of Michigan back in 1978 many people have asked if the laws regarding drug use within the state are too harsh.  The law calls for mandatory life imprisonment sentencing without the option for parole for any person found to manufacture, sell, or possesses cocaine or opiates in the excess of 650 grams.  Once again the law is under fire with the sentencing of a young student in college with no prior record sent behind bars without the chance to appeal in front of a parole board.

David Lester currently sits behind bars after a sentence in 1986 when he was a professional boxer and college senior due to the mandatory laws governing drug use that required he be sent to prison for life with no chance for parole.  During the two decades that he has sat in jail he has been forced to watch people who were convicted of armed robbery, rape, and other violent crimes get out on parole while he remains in prison serving his life sentence.

Michigan; however, is not the only state to take a harsh hand against drug use with forty other states in the United States have legislation that contains harsh mandatory sentencing dependent on the amount of drugs that a person is caught with.  The laws do not have any preference for a first time offender or a drug kingpin, but instead if a person violates the limit they are subject to the mandatory requirements.

The only way to beat the harsh sentence is to snitch on other dealers, which small time dealers and offenders often do not have the ability to do.  The result is an expensive tab for the taxpayers who are forced to pay to keep these non violent offenders in jail.  Lester is often referred to as the million dollar man for this reason, because just to keep him in prison until he reaches the age of 50 will cost the taxpayers of Michigan about a million dollars.