Pubdate: Wed, 04 Jan 2006 Source: Vail Trail, The (CO) Copyright: 2006 The Vail Trail Contact: http://www.vailtrail.com/section/LETTERTOEDITOR Website: http://www.vailtrail.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2697 Author: Tamara Miller, Editor Cited: Safer Alternative for Enjoyable Recreation http://www.safercolorado.org Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/Safer+Alternative+for+Enjoyable+Recreation Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/opinion.htm (Opinion) POT PUSH ARGUMENT IS NOTHING BUT SCHWAG Make pot legal because the war on drugs is pointless. Make pot legal because adults should have the right to do what they want in the privacy of their own homes. Make pot legal because the drug is no more disruptive than alcohol, our country's most misunderstood and abused legal drug. There are a lot of valid arguments for making marijuana legal in Colorado. Making it legal because it will make the world a safer place isn't one of them. Nevertheless, that's the argument behind one group's recent filing of a statewide ballot initiative that would make marijuana legal for adults under state law. The group, Safer Alternative For Enjoyable Recreation (SAFER), is campaigning for the initiative under the premise that the public should be free to make the "rational decision" to smoke dope instead of shooting tequila without being punished for it. So, basically, getting high is better for you, and for society, than getting drunk. Certainly, alcohol is cited much more frequently as a contributing factor in car wrecks, broken homes and workplace absenteeism. We all know of someone who has screwed up the life, or the lives of others, because of alcohol. The biggest problem we see with potheads is they eat a lot of Oreos and listen to too much Widespread. But campaigning for the legalization of pot under the premise that it is a "safer" drug ignores the fact that using any drug can be harmful. Certainly there are a lot of people who think smoking a little bit of dope isn't that big of a deal. Voters in Denver recently passed an initiative that removed all penalties for private adult marijuana use. But Denver city officials and police say the citywide initiative has no merit because state law still makes using pot illegal. SAFER's executive director, Mason Tvert, says his group had "no choice" but to take up the fight on behalf of Denver voters. SAFER's initiative itself isn't a bad idea. If passed, it would only make pot legal in those communities that have decided to decriminalize it. So, for example, if Vail voters decided that smoking a joint shouldn't be illegal, then it wouldn't be. To keep pot illegal, communities wouldn't have to change a thing. Marijuana use is so rampant that people frequently forget that it's illegal. The frequent arrests made here in Eagle County for pot possession indicate that a lot of people use marijuana. And a lot of pot users aren't getting caught, either. That doesn't necessarily make using pot a good idea. Marijuana is no better for the body than alcohol or cigarettes. But in the big scheme of things, using weed doesn't hurt society any more than moderate use of alcohol. Decriminalizing a drug that rarely affects anyone other than the user frees up police to fight crimes that really are the bane of our society. In fact, society might be better served if pot was legal and users were taxed to the brink to buy it. SAFER's campaign is bound to get support from thousands of pot users and thousands of non-pot users who think arresting people for smoking weed is a waste of time and taxpayer money. Legalizing pot for those reasons is worthy of discussion. But making pot legal because it will make our communities safer? Whoever came up with that must be on something. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake