Pubdate: Sat, 23 Nov 2013
Source: Monterey County Herald (CA)
Copyright: 2013 Monterey County Herald
Contact:  http://www.montereyherald.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/273
Author: Neil L. Shapiro
Note: Neil Shapiro is a Monterey lawyer who writes about legal issues 
and other subjects for this page.

THE PARALLELS OF POT AND PROHIBITION

Voters in Washington and Colorado decided recently to legalize 
possession and use of marijuana. But it's pretty much been legal in 
California for years.

Here, we like to pretend it is only legally available to those with 
serious medical conditions that entitle them to a compassionate 
exception to a specific criminal law. And that's true, so long as one 
classifies mild insomnia, sneezing or a propensity to develop 
hangnails as serious medical infirmities.

California voters passed Proposition 215 - the "Compassionate Use Act 
of 1996" - by a whopping 55-45 margin to allow those suffering from 
AIDS and cancer to use the drug to ease their discomfort and the 
nausea caused by treatments such as chemotherapy. During the campaign 
we saw images of gaunt men and women whose ability to hold down food 
depended on their use of an illegal drug. Who wouldn't be moved by 
the chance to ease their suffering, particularly when those with 
access would have to obtain the equivalent of a doctor's prescription?

Fast forward to the present. There now are "clinics" all over the 
state where for a fee of as little as $30 one can be seen by someone 
who appears to be a doctor and then receive a card permitting 
marijuana purchases. One only needs to claim some condition, real or 
imagined. Don't know where to find such a clinic? Don't know where to 
purchase your drugs? Just go to any of hundreds of websites, such as 
www.potspot411.com.

One can buy traditional buds with product names such as White Widow 
Sativia, Bubba Kush and Grandaddy Purple, as well as all manner of 
salves, tinctures and edible cannabis goodies. One can even find 
dispensaries that will deliver marijuana. Imagine, one call gets you 
stoned and the next brings a pizza to your door. We've come a long 
way since those gaunt patients were used to sell us Prop. 215.

Frankly, I never thought criminalizing possession and use of 
marijuana made much sense. But then I try to learn from history so 
that I don't need to repeat it. In 1919 the 18th Amendment was 
ratified and Congress passed the Volstead Act, which together 
prohibited the manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages. 
Interestingly, the latter permitted the consumption of alcohol if it 
was prescribed by a doctor. Of course there was no Internet then so 
it was a little harder to find a prescribing physician, but people managed.

The law did little to curb alcohol consumption, but it created a 
marvelous marketing opportunity to gangsters who made millions by 
smuggling and supplying the public with what it continued to want. 
Sound familiar?

In 1933, the 21st Amendment was ratified, scrapping the 18th and 
ending Prohibition. Regulation and taxation replaced criminalization.

The marijuana journey, although largely parallel, is taking longer. 
It was first criminalized in California in 1913 and by the feds in 
1937. While the feds still treat it like radioactive cobalt, more 
than 20 states and, interestingly, the District of Columbia, allow 
its use for medical purposes. And while the end of Prohibition hardly 
fostered a nation of new drunks, the growing legalization of 
marijuana does not appear to significantly increase its use.

To me, both Prohibition and the criminalization of marijuana were 
engineered by busybodies who wanted to control the decisions others 
make for themselves. Rational limitations are fine; driving under the 
influence of alcohol, marijuana or any number of other substances, 
for example, endangers third parties and absolutely should be 
prohibited. But whose business is it if I choose to sit in my living 
room and have a Belvedere martini at the end of a long day? Or even, 
God forbid, smoke a joint?

Good for Washington and Colorado. Isn't it time we stop pretending 
and instead legalize, regulate and tax the living hell out of 
marijuana? Or have we learned nothing from history?
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom