Pubdate: Sun, 23 Jan 2011
Source: Daily Press (Newport News,VA)
Copyright: 2011 The Daily Press
Contact:  http://www.dailypress.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/585
Author: Robert Sharpe
Note: Robert Sharpe is a board member of the Virginia Chapter of the 
National Organization for the Reform Marijuana Laws (NORML)

DECRIMINALIZE MARIJUANA, BAN SYNTHETICS

Local Del. Glenn Oder (R - Newport News) has sponsored one of 17 
bi-partisan bills to outlaw the sale and use of "synthetic marijuana" 
in the 2011 Virginia 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 
effects may be similar, but the chemicals are nothing like marijuana. 
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 is well established.

The synthetic 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 over 850,000 arrests 
annually, the United States 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 (PTSD).

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.

Del. Oder is proposing to make 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.

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 used by 
shameless politicians to justify throwing good money after bad policy.

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 US.

Virginia is about to embark on an endless cat and mouse game. Banning 
the over-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.

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