Pubdate: Wed, 22 Oct 2014
Source: Fairbanks Daily News-Miner (AK)
Copyright: 2014 Fairbanks Publishing Company, Inc.
Contact:  http://newsminer.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/764
Author: Kelly Drew
Note: Kelly Drew is a pharmacologist who serves as a medical 
researcher and educator in the University of Alaska Fairbanks' 
Institute of Arctic Biology. She is a co-chair of the Campaign to 
Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol.
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v14/n811/a05.html

MARIJUANA PROHIBITION IS IMMORAL

As members of a community, we have a responsibility to work with and 
for one another to achieve a common good. It is a good defined by 
both our common moral framework, and by the fundamental American 
values of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

The debate about marijuana legalization has left many struggling to 
find what is right. On Oct. 14, Archbishop Roger Schweitzer wrote 
that "Marijuana legalization would be immoral." In respectful 
disagreement with the archbishop, I suggest that persecuting 
individuals and families for use of marijuana is immoral. Moreover, 
the Archbishop's judgment ignores the negative impacts of our 
marijuana policy on Alaskans and their families.

As a Ph.D. and a medical researcher at the University of Alaska 
Fairbanks who has studied the effects of drugs on the brain, it is my 
professional opinion that the criminalization of marijuana is far 
more damaging to Alaskans than the use of marijuana itself ever could 
be or will be.

For more than 70 years, our policy of prohibition has put thousands 
of Americans in jail for marijuana possession and sales. This has 
separated families, created excessive financial hardship on families 
and forever impacted future opportunities for employment. The 
government has imposed these negative outcomes on citizens simply for 
using a substance far less harmful than the indulgences allowed in 
your friendly neighborhood bar.

A report published by the American Civil Liberties Union in 2013 
found that in 2010, 80.6 percent of all drug arrests in Alaska were 
for marijuana possession, which is the single highest rate in the 
country. Law enforcement resources in Alaska are limited, and should 
be focused on serious crimes, not punishing adults for using 
marijuana. Since 2004, there have been more than 8,000 arrests for 
marijuana possession in Alaska, and this continues to cost us roughly 
$14.5 million per year to enforce and process. Meanwhile, African 
Americans are 1.6 times more likely to be arrested for marijuana 
possession than whites, despite both groups using marijuana at 
similar rates. In some areas of the state, this prejudicial 
enforcement is even more extreme.

According to national surveys, 40 percent of the people you know will 
try marijuana at some point during their lives. Continuing 
prohibition implies that under different circumstances, these people 
should be treated as criminals. I find this difficult to defend from 
a moral perspective, especially when you consider that the 
overwhelming majority of marijuana users are responsible, law-abiding adults.

More importantly, we need to recognize that prohibition does not 
prevent marijuana use, nor does it adequately protect our youth. 
Prohibition merely pushes the activity underground, into an 
environment we can neither monitor nor control. This creates a host 
of other problems, from supporting criminal networks and violence, to 
unregulated access and product quality. Turning a blind eye to these 
problems only serves to make these matters worse. It is time to bring 
this issue out of the shadows, where it can be addressed in an open 
and transparent manner.

Passing Ballot Measure 2 does not end this discussion. Giving this 
policy a chance will begin the process of fleshing out regulations 
around the bill. Together, we will decide what products we want on 
the market, how they may be advertised and how we will treat 
individuals who violate our rules. Less than a year after a regulated 
system is in place, lawmakers will be able to revisit every aspect of 
the measure, from local control to complete repeal.

With such passion on both sides of this debate, it is easy to forget 
that most of us want the same things. Neither side wants children 
using marijuana, to enrich criminals or to bring trouble to our local 
communities. Transitioning to a regulated market honors these values 
better than the alternative.

It is natural for us to fear change, but we cannot use that as an 
excuse to deny the realities of failed policies. We must have the 
courage toward a world which better reflects our values. In my own 
mind, it is a world which is free from injustice, where we address 
our challenges head on, and a world in which individuals are 
empowered to make their own decisions.

Come Nov. 4, I encourage Alaskans to join me in supporting Ballot 
Measure 2. Ending our failed war on marijuana is the moral thing to do.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom