Pubdate: Wed, 28 Aug 2013
Source: Vail Daily (CO)
Copyright: 2013 Vail Daily
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/wo3Ts7AI
Website: http://www.vaildaily.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3233
Author: Fredric Butler

LET'S BE SMART ABOUT MARIJUANA

The letter penned by Buddy Sims in the Vail Daily issue of aug. 24 
regarding the absolute prohibition of the cultivation and sale of 
marijuana in all unincorporated areas of Eagle County subsumed that 
the "devil weed" was not in the best interest, health, welfare and 
safety of the people in that jurisdiction.

Eagle County is a microcosm of the state of Colorado and of the 
United States. The state has already voiced its support for the 
availability of this commodity by constitutional amendment pursuant 
to the people's own initiative. Now, if the people of the 
unincorporated portions of the county are citizens of the state of 
Colorado, then their sentiments may have already been made manifest, 
contrary to the personal sentiments of Mr. Sims.

On a much broader scale, and in the American age of suffrage, 
vigilantism and Christian zealotry, a minority succeeded in the 
passage of the 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that brought 
the prohibition of the "devil's brew" (alcohol) for the good people 
of the land.

Perhaps at that time, the abolitionists, like Mr. Sims, asked the 
same question: "Do the people of the United States really want liquor 
stores, night clubs, restaurants (all dispensing alcohol) opening up 
throughout our God fearing land"? Thirteen years later, on second 
thought, the people proclaimed that they in fact did want the right 
to choose whether they could indulge in the consumption of alcohol, 
and therefore repealed the prohibitive mandate via the 21st Amendment.

The 21st Amendment was all about the right to choose or indulge in a 
potentially hazardous commodity like alcohol or tobacco, 
notwithstanding the abuse that may be attendant to that right and its 
resultant damage.

The latest statistics to which I am privy and relating to the various 
causes of death in the United States indicate that there were 
80,000-plus alcohol related deaths a year, a majority of which 
involved driving vehicles. Around 50,000 people per year expire as a 
result of tobacco consumption; 38,000 die from the effects of 
prescription drugs; 31,000 die from firearms injuries; and zero 
percent of the population dies as a result of marijuana usage.

In answer to Mr. Sims' pervasive and expanded question, "do the 
people in Eagle County want a complete ban on alcohol, tobacco, 
prescription drugs, guns and automobiles"? No. Then why would they 
want a ban on the least fatal of these commodities (marijuana)? I 
would submit that they would want a free market on all commodities 
with its concomitant right to choose, but with limited regulation to 
ameliorate usage by the under-aged and the chronic abuser. With the 
above statistics, would it be any worse on society by having a number 
of dispensaries in the neighborhood rather than what we have now, 
such as drug stores, tobacco shops, bars and liquor stores?

Were the Eagle County commissioners to impose the complete abolition 
on dispensaries, it would be to disregard the factual statistics and 
predisposition of the citizens of this county to choose for 
themselves rather than some other agenda, such as fear of the 
unknown, religious tenets, lack of trust or faith in the individual 
citizen to manage his life and the lives of his children, or a 
penchant for dominance and control over individual Americans similar 
to that which spawned Obamacare or the Patriot Act.

As in the roaring '20s, prohibition or abolition created more 
criminal activity than previously existed, since it drove what was 
acceptable and permissible behavior and conduct underground. The 
black market for moonshine and speakeasy clubs had their genesis and 
impetus directly from Prohibition. The mafia, the gangsters and 
hustlers made millions and paid no taxes to sustain law enforcement 
activities to combat them.

It is simply naive to think that a ban on a relatively harmless 
biological commodity would not foment more subversive industry in 
Eagle County. A reasonably regulated free market for this commodity 
is the best depressant and deterrent on increased criminal activity, 
and certainly pays the freight for better law enforcement to combat it.

It's a question of pro-choice or no-choice. It's a belief in the free 
market or no market at all for a commodity that certainly does not 
have the deleterious and addictive affects of alcohol and tobacco. 
And it's your choice to choose wisely!

Fredric Butler
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom