Pubdate: Thu, 27 Feb 2014
Source: Daily Courier (Prescott, AZ)
Copyright: 2014 Prescott Newspapers, Inc.
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Website: http://www.dcourier.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4036
Author: Richard (Buz) Williams

LEGALIZING RECREATIONAL DRUGS IS A BAD IDEA

The libertarian side of me thinks we should legalize all drugs. There 
would have to be some adjustments in our criminal procedures and 
additional laws dealing with punishments for those who commit crimes 
while under the influence of drugs.

There could be sentencing enhancements. Those who commit crimes while 
under the influence of any drug should have a mandatory five years 
added to the sentence for the crime itself. Ten years could be added 
to the sentence for each and every injury caused during the 
commission of a crime while under the influence. A mandatory life 
sentence would apply to any conviction of a crime committed while 
under the influence, where a death occurs.

These newly legalized drugs could be taxed, the revenue used for drug 
education programs, rehabilitation programs and to create jobs for 
the unemployed, who could be hired to clear the bodies of those who 
over-abused the drugs that have been newly legalized. While those 
mavens of political correctness would have us all believe that drug 
use is a disease and should be treated as such, I am less sympathetic 
to that view.

Referring to one who abuses substances as a drug user, or a doper, 
makes them sound much more cerebral than they actually are. Many 
abusers actually use those terms to refer to themselves, as a matter 
of pride. Many in law enforcement, unofficially, use a name that much 
more accurately describes one who abuses narcotics and dangerous 
drugs: Dopey. It also takes the aura of respectability from those who 
engage in such abusive consumption of drugs that are presently illegal.

The realist side of me knows from experience that legalizing drugs 
would lead to more use, more abuse, more overdoses and more innocent 
victims of those using these drugs. Decriminalizing drugs and taxing 
them would be no panacea for a better society. It would only increase 
the use, legitimize their perception, especially among juveniles, and 
reek more havoc on our families and communities.

Yavapai County Attorney, Sheila Polk, who has done an extraordinary 
job since she was first elected in 2000, is a fervent opponent of 
legalizing currently illegal substances. A few weeks ago, I had the 
pleasure of hearing her speak on this subject. Where medical 
marijuana laws are passed, pot use among teenagers and young adults 
goes up. In Washington state and Colorado, where marijuana has been 
legalized, use by adolescents is already starting to go up.

Polk quoted facts from a government survey of arrestees called ADAM 
II. In 2012, this survey questioned arrestees in five different 
cities throughout the country about what drugs those arrested were 
using. The answers were then verified by a urinalysis in 88 to 90 
percent of those questioned.

The results were not astonishing for those with criminal justice 
experience, but might surprise those in the general population. Over 
60 percent of those in the survey had at least one drug in their 
system at the time of arrest. The substance most often found in the 
bodies of the arrestees was marijuana, which is the most socially 
acceptable substance. The criminal element attaches little or no 
significance to the use of marijuana, since urinalysis confirmed that 
83 percent of those who tested positive admitted to using pot.

Methamphetamine appears to be the next most acceptable drug of abuse 
by those arrested, since 63 percent of those confirmed to have used 
it, admitted to using it. Half of those who were found to have used 
heroin admitted to it. Only 43 percent of the arrestees found to have 
cocaine derivatives in their systems admitted it.

One would think that methamphetamine would be the least socially 
acceptable drug, but it does make one much more self-confident and 
talkative, which could account for the large number of those willing 
to admit using it. On the other hand, many of those who chronically 
use cocaine or come down from the high, have feelings of paranoia, 
which would make them less likely to tell the truth about abusing an 
illegal substance.

The main point is that legalizing or decriminalizing a substance 
makes it more socially acceptable and that, in turn, increases its 
use, especially among adolescents. This is particularly true of 
marijuana. That is very bad news. Studies have shown that those who 
chronically use pot at a young age perform poorly on memory tests 
even after two years of abstaining from using it. (See Teen Pot Use 
Could Hurt Brain and Memory, By Brian Alexander, NBC News, Dec. 15, 2013).

Marijuana is much stronger now than it was 30 or 40 years ago, 
ranging from 2 times to 25 times more potent. Advocates of legalizing 
and decriminalizing marijuana claim that their advocacy would not 
alter current laws of forbidding the use of marijuana for juveniles. 
That makes no difference. The effect of legalizing any substance is 
that it becomes more acceptable, and that increases use. There is no 
quicker way to dumb down our youth, our voters and our citizens, than 
to legalize marijuana and other drugs.

Buz Williams is a retired Long Beach, Calif., police officer who has 
lived in Prescott since 2004.
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