Pubdate: Fri, 31 Jan 2014
Source: Washington Times (DC)
Copyright: 2014 The Washington Times, LLC.
Contact:  http://www.washingtontimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/492
Author: Valerie Richardson
Page: A1

BIEBER'S ARREST ADDS NEGATIVE VIBE TO POT USE

String of Incidents Raises Questions on Legalization

DENVER - If you're an advocate of legalized marijuana, this is not 
the kind of celebrity endorsement you're looking for.

Pop star Justin Bieber's latest arrest while high on pot came at an 
awkward time for those pushing for further liberalization of the 
nation's pot laws, and Mr. Bieber wasn't the only one generating negative ink.

A series of high-profile news stories, starting with Mr. Bieber's 
admission that he smoked pot all day before he was arrested for drag 
racing in Miami, have put a big-time damper on the legalization 
movement's otherwise sky-high vibe, which had a number of 
unprecedented political and cultural triumphs in recent months.

Police reported this week that Maryland mall gunman Darion Aguilar 
mentioned in his journal that he used marijuana. In Colorado, a 
driver high on pot made national headlines after crashing into two 
state trooper vehicles, and a 2-year-old was rushed to an emergency 
room after finding and eating a cookie laced with marijuana.

The spate of weed-related incidents has given ammunition to marijuana 
opponents, who say such episodes are likely to increase as pot 
becomes more widely accepted in the wake of successful legalization 
measures in Colorado and Washington.

"This is exactly what many of us have feared," said Kevin Sabet, 
former White House drug policy adviser and director of Smart 
Approaches to Marijuana. "It's why most major medical associations 
are against [legalization] because we know with more acceptance comes 
more use, and with more use comes more problems."

Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. got an earful when he testified 
before a Senate oversight hearing this week. Sen. Jeff Sessions, 
Alabama Republican and former state attorney general, sharply 
criticized comments by President Obama in a recent New Yorker profile 
about pot use, which Mr. Obama has admitted he did frequently in his youth.

Mr. Obama left the anti-pot resistance dismayed when he told the 
magazine that he considered marijuana to be no more harmful than 
alcohol. He called marijuana smoking a "bad habit and a vice," and 
"not very different from ... cigarettes."

"I invested a huge amount of my time to break the use of drug use in 
our country - to make clear drug use isn't socially acceptable and 
children shouldn't be using it and it's wrong," Mr. Sessions said. 
"I'm heartbroken at what the president said. It's shocking to me."

But Mason Tvert, a spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project, said 
he doubts the bad publicity from a few incidents will slow the 
legalization movement's momentum.

"I don't think any of those things are going to be blamed by most 
Americans on marijuana," said Mr. Tvert. "I don't think Americans are 
going to base their decisions on an individual doing something stupid."

Although the Bieber arrest has drawn huge media attention, Mr. Tvert 
said, people have become accustomed to the specter of celebrities acting out.

"We hear of celebrities doing absurd things all the time when they're 
drunk, and people don't want to go back to alcohol prohibition," Mr. 
Tvert said.

The legalization movement scored another big win this month when the 
New Hampshire House became the first legislative body in U.S. history 
to vote to allow recreational marijuana use for people 21 and older.

Advocates are moving to place a retail marijuana measure on the 
Alaska ballot in August, and Oregon voters could consider the issue 
in November.

Mr. Obama's remarks about pot use contradict the message from the 
president's drug czar, Gil Kerlikowske, who told USA Today this month 
that teenagers "are getting the wrong message from the medical 
marijuana and legalization campaigns."

"If it's continued to be talked about as a benign substance that has 
no ill effects, we're doing a great disservice to young people by 
giving them that message," Mr. Kerlikowske said.

Although polls show support for legalization has never been higher, 
Mr. Sabet said Colorado's opening of retail pot shops Jan. 1 has 
increased opposition among opinion leaders for putting the brakes on 
recreational use of marijuana.

"It's one thing to say you're against prohibition, but it's a very 
different thing when that pot shop opens up in your neighborhood," 
said Mr. Sabet. "Our organization has never seen more letters of 
support since Colorado began legalization on Jan. 1."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom