Pubdate: Sun, 21 Jul 2002
Source: Contra Costa Times (CA)
Copyright: 2002 Knight Ridder
Contact: http://www.bayarea.com/mld/bayarea/contact_us/feedback_np2
Website: http://www.bayarea.com/mld/cctimes
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/96
Author: Sheryl McCarthy
Note: McCarthy is a Newsday columnist.

BUSH SHOULD FOLLOW BRITS' LEAD ON MARIJUANA POLICY

THE BRITISH TOOK a big leap forward recently, announcing a plan to 
downgrade marijuana's status as an illegal drug.

Instead of treating pot like much harder drugs, such as cocaine and heroin, 
Prime Minister Tony Blair's government will push a proposal to put it more 
on par with, say, steroids.

Instead of arresting people who're caught with small amounts of marijuana, 
the police in most cases will simply confiscate the drugs and give the 
offender a warning. The point is to free the police to concentrate on more 
serious crimes.

With this latest move, Britain is finally getting more in step with the 
rest of Western Europe, where only a handful of Scandinavian countries 
treat marijuana smoking as a crime. In Spain, Portugal, Belgium and the 
Netherlands, they don't arrest marijuana users; in Spain, and Portugal, not 
even hard-drug use is a crime.

The United States should emulate its closest ally. Enough finger- pointing 
at the decadent Dutch, with their pot shops and needle parks. We'd be in 
the same league as the normally strait-laced Brits. So it's time to try 
something more sensible.

And because Blair cozies up to George W. Bush on most things, he could 
whisper in the president's ear that we have one of the most senseless drug 
policies in the world.

In 2000, the last year for which the FBI has crime statistics, 743,000 
people were arrested for marijuana offenses, 88 percent of them for simple 
possession. Before Rudolph Giuliani became mayor, fewer than 800 marijuana 
arrests were being made in New York City each year. After his crackdown on 
so-called quality-of-life crimes, the number skyrocketed to 52,000.

If, as current mayor Mike Bloomberg admits, he has not only smoked 
marijuana, but really enjoyed it, should we continue arresting 50,000 
people a year for doing the same thing?

Marijuana does not have the same connection to violence and crime that 
alcohol has, or the link to addiction, sickness and death that tobacco 
does. Yet alcohol and tobacco are legal -- because so many Americans like 
to smoke and drink, and because these drugs support huge industries. Yet 
marijuana, a mild intoxicant, is treated like the drug from hell.

Drugs are the third rail of U.S. politics, and few politicians are willing 
to call for changes in the current drug policy for fear of being called 
soft on drugs and soft on crime. Yet most politicians are out of step with 
the American public.

Twelve states have stopped arresting people who are caught with marijuana 
in public, and Nevada has a voters' initiative on the ballot this fall that 
could give it the most progressive marijuana policy in the nation. It would 
legalize possession of up to 3 ounces, authorize the state to open 
state-licensed marijuana shops and make marijuana available cheaply for 
medical purposes.

The big obstacle is the federal law that forbids the use or possession or 
sale of marijuana, and even its use for medical reasons.

The federal government should get out of the way and let the states adopt 
more reasonable policies, if they see fit. And the states, in short, should 
follow the Brits.
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MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens