Pubdate: Sun, 23 Jan 2011
Source: Charlottesville Daily Progress (VA)
Copyright: 2011 Media General Newspapers
Contact:  http://www.dailyprogress.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1545
Author: Robert Sharpe
Note: Robert Sharpe is a board member of the Virginia Chapter of the 
National Organization for the Reform Marijuana Laws. His last 
commentary was about a General Assembly bill to decriminalize 
marijuana; that bill died last week in committee.

BAN SYNTHETIC, DECRIMINALIZE NATURAL MARIJUANA

No fewer than 17 bipartisan bills to outlaw the sale and use of 
"synthetic marijuana" have been filed in the current General Assembly 
session. In a year when the entire General Assembly is up for 
re-election, banning synthetic marijuana is one thing risk-averse 
legislators can agree on.

Synthetic marijuana is made from chemicals related to mothballs. The 
chemicals are nothing like marijuana, although the effects may be 
similar. The synthetics contain carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic 
hydrocarbons in amounts large enough to make tobacco look like health 
food in comparison.

The comparative safety of organic marijuana, by contrast, is well established.

The bills all contain one major flaw. They criminalize personal use. 
Zero tolerance has done little other than burden otherwise 
law-abiding citizens with criminal records. Consider the U.S. 
experience with natural marijuana. Despite more than 850,000 arrests 
annually, the U.S. has double the rate of marijuana use as the 
Netherlands, where marijuana is legally available.

Among the primary users of synthetic marijuana are military 
personnel. This is because synthetic marijuana does not show up in 
drug tests. Virginia legislators are about to pass a drug law that 
will disproportionately impact men and women in uniform, some of whom 
may be self-medicating. Marijuana is widely used by veterans to 
self-treat post-traumatic stress disorder.

The way marijuana treats PTSD is really quite simple. It helps people 
forget. This is a godsend to soldiers and veterans haunted by 
memories of war. Israel has a well-established medical marijuana 
program. PTSD is a common doctor-approved justification for medical 
use among Israeli Defense Forces veterans.

The Virginia bills all propose making possession of synthetic 
marijuana a Class 1 misdemeanor punishable by up to 12 months in 
jail. Can Virginia even afford to put more nonviolent offenders 
behind bars? Is this really a top priority during an economic 
downturn that has resulted in layoffs of police, firefighters and teachers?

The drug war has given the land of the free the highest incarceration 
rate in the world, with absolutely nothing to show for it. For the 
same reasons alcohol prohibition failed, the drug war has been doomed 
from the start. We're shortchanging our children's future by 
prioritizing incarceration over education.

Banning the over-the-counter sale of synthetic marijuana is easily 
done. The feds have largely accomplished this already. Criminalizing 
users unnecessarily entails expanding big government. Thanks to 
education efforts, legal tobacco use has steadily declined, without 
any need to criminalize tobacco smokers.

More drug war is not the answer. A better solution is to ease up on 
penalties for natural marijuana. The use of synthetic marijuana is an 
unintended side effect of the war on real marijuana. Consumers are 
turning to potentially toxic drugs, made in China and sold as 
research chemicals before being repackaged as incense for sale in the U.S.

Virginia is about to embark on an endless cat-and-mouse game. Banning 
the over-the-counter sale of synthetics is one thing, but policing 
the Internet is another entirely. Chinese chemists will tweak 
formulas to stay one step ahead of the law and two steps ahead of the 
drug tests. New versions won't necessarily be safer.

This is, of course, an election year. The root cause of the punitive 
nanny state is political opportunism. Drug prohibition finances 
organized crime at home and terrorism abroad, which is then cited by 
shameless politicians to justify throwing good money after bad policy.

It's long past time to stop pretending marijuana is more dangerous 
than legal alcohol, tobacco or prescription narcotics. Marijuana is 
not nearly as harmful (or exciting) as Virginia's criminal penalties 
suggest. Virginia legislators will be making changes to the state's 
Drug Control Act. Those changes should include marijuana decriminalization.
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake