Pubdate: Sat, 14 Sep 2002
Source: Athens Banner-Herald (GA)
Copyright: 2002 Athens Newspapers Inc
Contact:  http://www.onlineathens.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1535
Author: Douglas Young

YOUNG: SOME ARGUMENTS FOR LEGALIZING MARIJUANA IN THE UNITED STATES FORUM

Today's Forum was written by Douglas Young, associate professor of 
political science and history at Gainesville College. Every college should 
be a free marketplace of ideas where all perspectives joust. Yet to even 
consider legalizing marijuana is often unacceptable in academic company. 
But, because all public policy should be rationally debated, let's at least 
look at some legalization arguments. I wish no one used any recreational 
drug (and I avoid them all). But if we must outlaw everything that is 
potentially dangerous, then we need a federal 30 mph speed limit and a ban 
on fatty foods greasing the obesity epidemic and killing more than 300,000 
Americans annually (CBS News). Somehow we survived legal marijuana until 
1937. It actually helped finance our revolution, clothe the Continental 
Army and provide the paper for our Declaration of Independence and the 
Constitution. Washington and Jefferson grew it, and the latter risked 
smuggling it out of Europe. In fact, before 1870, hemp oil ranked second 
only to whale oil in creating light around the world. During World War II, 
the feds pushed hemp production to make rope for the war effort. Dope got 
banned because federal cops wanted to keep their jobs, cotton farmers 
wanted to end hemp competition, and whites linked pot to Mexican immigrants 
and black jazz musicians. Louis Armstrong never performed without it, and a 
later user, Beatle Paul McCartney, still calls joints ''herbal jazz 
cigarettes.'' Caucasians feared white girls would ''go crazy'' on dope and 
become intimate with minority males. So, to avert ''Reefer Madness,'' the 
weed was outlawed instead of the cancer sticks, liver poison and ''Mother's 
Little Helper'' pills preferred by the ruling class. Now 500,000 Americans 
are in jail for marijuana (ABC News), and more than 700,000 more are 
arrested for it each year (the FBI). In fact, an attorney on ''The O'Reilly 
Factor'' reveals there are presently more lifers in California prisons for 
pot than for murder, rape and kidnapping combined. So pot-smokers get 
locked up with and brutalized by our most violent felons. How's that for 
''rehabilitation?'' Then their records deny them student loans, voting 
rights and many good jobs. Does our abuse of drug-users resemble how we 
used to mistreat the mentally ill? The medical evidence shows drug addicts 
are unwisely self-medicating a dopamine deficiency in the brain. They need 
treatment, not an 8-foot-by-10-foot cell. William F. Buckley, Jr. notes 
that 400,000 police can't go after violence and theft due to the endless 
''War on Drugs.'' Doesn't prohibition fuel the forbidden fruit syndrome? 
The 1920s alcohol ban criminalized a huge percentage of decent Americans, 
created organized crime in the U.S., and corrupted thousands of police and 
officials. Though none is healthy, is pot remotely as bad as alcohol or 
cigarettes? CBS News reported that half of U.S. hospital beds are filled by 
folks with alcohol-related problems. Then we have 110,000 
alcohol-lubricated deaths a year. Also, the Justice Deptartment admits that 
alcohol was the only drug found in 36 percent of all convicted criminals 
and is a factor in more than 40 percent of murders. Cigarettes are as 
addictive as heroin, do far more bodily harm than any opiate, and kill 
430,000 Americans a year. My hygienist says they can even cause teeth to 
fall out in your 30s. Though pot is psychologically addictive for some, no 
one ever overdosed, got cancer or died from marijuana. Nor do people get 
violent on it. Also, studies show most pot-smokers do not graduate to 
harder illegal drugs. Since decriminalization in Holland, police say pot 
use is down, and youths are less exposed to illegal drug dealers and worse 
substances. In fact, most of Europe is now doing the same and has far less 
drug use and crime than we do (ABC). With effective health classes and ad 
campaigns, U.S. tobacco and alcohol consumption are way down. Better 
education can lower pot use as well. Though many states have passed 
referenda liberalizing marijuana laws, the feds keep vetoing our states' 
rights. Ultimately, either we're for less government or we're not. Is it 
really state business what consenting adults do in their own home? Wouldn't 
our libertarian Founding Fathers be appalled at this gross encroachment on 
our privacy rights? Let's at least debate returning to our roots and 
finally standing up for freedom for a change.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jo-D