Pubdate: Sun, 17 May 2009 Source: Reporter, The (Vacaville, CA) Copyright: 2009 The Reporter Contact: http://www.thereporter.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/472 Author: Will Ozier Note: The author, a Vacaville resident, is a frequent contributor to Your Forum. Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n490/a04.html Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization) TIME TO ABANDON POLICY War On Marijuana Costly, Ineffective Ever since I was a kid in college in the mid-1960's, marijuana has been painted as "the evil weed" that causes all kinds of mental and physical problems. The government propaganda was prolific -- and almost completely a fabrication. Virtually every negative government assertion has been shown to be unfounded. Yet tens of billions of dollars are wasted, and hundreds of thousands of lives are ruined, every year in the futile efforts to eradicate pot and its use as a recreational drug. The reality is that pot is the most innocuous of all recreational drugs, both legal (cigarettes and alcohol) and illegal (cocaine, speed, heroin, LSD, etc.). Studies about pot have shown: * Both physical and mental effects are temporary and end when one stops using the drug. * It is, according to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, physiologically impossible to commit suicide with pot; however, as we all know, both cigarettes and alcohol, with extended use, do kill. Actually it is well-known that one can suffer fatal alcohol poisoning on a single (fifth-size) bottle of hard liquor. * Contrary to the effects of alcohol, which suppresses inhibitions to violence, those who smoke pot tend to avoid violence. As for being a "gateway drug," the underlying rational for that assertion is that one who acquires pot is introduced, by the dealer, to the stronger drugs. If it were legalized, that circumstance would be rendered moot, as one would acquire it from licensed dealers, such as the local liquor store. The economics of legalization and regulation are readily shown to be both profitable (the California pot "industry" is currently estimated to be about $10 billion per year) and capable of being a substantial source of tax revenue. Plus, growers would no longer feel a need to go to great, even deadly, lengths to hide and protect their crops. From a law-enforcement perspective, police at all levels could focus on real crimes against property and people. Many California jurisdictions, and other states, have already put the pursuit of pot-related crime at the lowest priority, unless violence ensues. Further, the courts -- and prisons -- would no longer be burdened with the vast expenses of pursuing and prosecuting pot crime. Clearly the legal availability of pot would have a salutary effect on the illegal trade, organized crime in America and abroad, and including, of course, the Latin-American drug cartels and their ramification. The psychological relief of having a demonstrably irrational body of law and an inherently violent legal bureaucracy lifted from the books could be immeasurable. The literally tens of millions of those otherwise law-abiding citizens across the country who casually imbibe would no longer be fearful of being branded as criminals, with all the unavoidable consequences. As a Reporter editorial ("Time to end war on drugs?" May 4) points out, a recent Washington Post-ABC News poll shows that 46 percent of all Americans favor legalization and, more important here in California, a recent Pew poll shows that 56 percent of Californians favor legalization -- and that's without any kind of factual educational campaign. A final word: Laws designed to assure that our children are protected from those who would take advantage of their vulnerability to all illegal drugs should be aggressively enforced. As virtually every study has shown, drugs, especially pot, are readily available on school campuses. The children, even into the elementary schools, already "know" that pot propaganda is just that. Having juvenile protection measures enforced with an even hand across all drugs would lend considerable credibility to their merit among our youth. It is about time we end this economically and socially destructive misadventure. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom