Pubdate: Sun, 24 Mar 2013
Source: State Journal-Register (IL)
Copyright: 2013 The State Journal-Register
Contact: http://service.sj-r.com/forms/letters.asp
Website: http://www.sj-r.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/425

WHY STOP WITH LEGALIZING MEDICAL MARIJUANA?

Whether to allow sick people to use marijuana to alleviate their pain 
has been considered by Illinois lawmakers in session after session.

The legislation has never passed because of a combination of 
political cowardice, hardened law enforcement opposition and fears 
about it being a stepping-stone to legalization.

As usual, Illinois lawmakers are behind the curve. They should not 
only legalize marijuana for medicinal use but also for recreational 
use, as voters had the sense to do in November in Colorado and 
Washington state. The Illinois Constitution has no provision for 
voter-initiated referendum, so it's up to lawmakers to act.

More than 850,000 people were arrested nationwide in 2009 for 
breaking marijuana laws and nearly 90 percent were busted for simple 
possession, according to the FBI's uniform crime reports. Half of the 
drug arrests in the nation are marijuana related. More than 25 
million people a year smoke marijuana, according to a federal survey.

Is marijuana addictive? The evidence on this varies, but we have no 
doubt that some people can't do without it. It's certainly not as 
addictive as other, harder drugs, such as methamphetamines or heroin.

Is it harmful? It's certainly not good for your lungs, impairs 
judgment and can increase the risk of a heart attack, as can be 
expected from any drug in which you inhale chemicals into your lungs. 
That being said, it also alleviates pain for those who suffer from 
cancer, HIV/AIDS and other diseases.

But none of the harm from using marijuana is worse than the other two 
legalized drugs in the United States: alcohol and tobacco. It's hard 
to take anyone who argues otherwise seriously.

Those drugs are heavily regulated and taxed. Laws can be enacted to 
bar those under the influence of marijuana from driving, just as we 
do with alcohol, and to bar smoking it in public, just as Illinois 
has done with cigarettes.

This state and 47 others spend billions imprisoning people who have 
bought and/or sold marijuana. If there is one silver lining from the 
recession, it has caused government to reexamine its spending 
priorities. Spending money to incarcerate people for using or selling 
marijuana and impairing their ability to get a job and be good, 
productive citizens ought to be near the top of the list when it 
comes to reconsidering the state's priorities for spending.

Instead of tossing poor people off of Medicaid to save money, maybe 
the state can toss those who have sold or possessed marijuana out of 
prison, clear their records and close a few more facilities in the 
Department of Corrections.

Allowing the sale of marijuana also could be a potential revenue 
source, although saving money on prison costs and instituting a more 
just criminal justice system is our primary motivation for urging the 
legislature to consider legalization.

Marijuana prohibition's resiliency largely stems from the culture 
wars of the 1960s and young baby boomers' rebellion against their 
parents and society. Every U.S. president since Bill Clinton has 
admitted trying the drug. Politicians of both parties continue to 
fight that war even though the baby boomers are now in their 60s and 
marijuana usage is spread across all ages and races. People should 
not be made into criminals for it.

States are the laboratories of democracy, and Colorado and Washington 
took the first step toward nudging the nation to re-examine its 
costly and overly punitive drug laws. The voters in both of those 
states did Illinois and other states a favor. They made it mainstream 
and socially acceptable to seriously consider and discuss marijuana 
legalization. Illinois should start having that discussion.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom