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. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake