Pubdate: Sun, 16 Nov 2014
Source: Orlando Sentinel (FL)
Copyright: 2014 Orlando Sentinel
Contact:  http://www.orlandosentinel.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/325
Note: Rarely prints out-of-state LTEs.
Author: Bill Lane
Note: Bill Lane lives in Orlando.

WHY TREAT POT DIFFERENTLY THAN ALCOHOL?

Somehow the voting public confused medical marijuana with Disney 
tickets. That's right; many said, "No thanks," and "We have enough 
dopes already," and "The laws are best left as they are."

At Disney, if you have no ticket, you don't get into the parks 
because there are boundaries that cannot be crossed. But the laws 
banning marijuana have no enforceable boundaries capable of stopping 
it from getting into our schools, our neighborhoods or even our 
homes. Marijuana is not a "yes" or "no" proposition, as prohibition 
has proved that regardless of the effort we make and the wars we 
fight, the demand for marijuana remains constant, and so does the supply.

The effort the state must make is to gain control of the supply. And 
that starts with decriminalizing the user and shifting demand to 
legal, regulated and taxed supply chains.

Floridians who buy pot put themselves at unnecessary risk. Pot is 
bought and sold in the shadows, where disputes are often settled by 
violence. A pot user is unnecessarily discriminated against by his 
employer or potential employer in contrast to the alcohol user who 
may be encouraged by favorable tax laws to drink - for example, at 
lunch time (three-martini business expense). Public policy in the 
21st-century jails the marijuana user, while doling out tax breaks to 
the alcohol user.

The first step in solving the issue is overcoming fear that marijuana 
will destroy our culture, and the acceptance that Americans want to 
use this drug on a par with alcohol. After all, as a gangster-driven 
commodity without regulations or oversight, it hasn't destroyed the 
culture so far, and no one wanting a buzz goes without. As a 
commodity, it has reached near-saturation levels, meaning that 
legalization will not significantly increase the number of users.

The harm that has come from marijuana use is not from the medical 
risk, but from the risk of being branded a criminal and being 
incarcerated for possession. By maintaining prohibition, we 
needlessly put our greatest treasures - our young people - at risk 
because we are unable to fix our public-policy failures.

The winners in the midterm elections, despite the close vote, were 
the street dealers, the gangs, the cartels and anyone profiting from 
the status quo. The losers were our children and children's children, 
and our legislatures, which refuse to deal responsibly with 
marijuana, other than to pretend it isn't there.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom