For those of you that know me well, you know that I am a firm believer in the legalization of marijuana. My beliefs on this topic revolve around the fact that marijuana use is a "victimless crime" and the "facts" the government has used to justify its criminalization of the "drug" are largely myths. For those that are interested, I would be happy to provide some suggestions of books and other objective sources of information on the topic. In any event, while doing some research, I came across this video which was very typical of the 1950s anti-drug sentiment and found it particularly interesting.
It is my belief that one of the most important reasons that we should legalize marijuana is that by doing so the government will obviate the need for millions of innocent smokers to go to the types of "peddlers" referenced in this anti-drug movie. This propaganda in and of itself concedes that it is not the drug marijuana that makes it a "gateway" drug, but rather its categorization as a criminalized drug which does so. Although I have no intention of getting into the harms and dangers (many of which are far worse) of prescription drugs, I think every American can concede that they never went to their pharmacist with a prescription for Vicodin and had their pharmacist pushing them to try Oxycontin. Both are nonetheless addictive narcotic drugs which are abused in this country every day. Nonetheless, because the government hasn't denied the basic principle that they do provide some medical benefit that is worth their potential risks, they are still sold on a regulated drug market.
This film refers to marijuana as a narcotic. Medically, it cannot be classified as such. Furthermore, the United States Congress has a classification of drugs by and through which they determine which drugs can be used for medicinal purposes. Marijuana has been classified as the most dangerous sort of narcotic drug (a Schedule I) with no medical purposes. This puts it in a category with drugs like PCP, Heroin, and Mescaline. This classification (and this movie)should be viewed as nothing short of undermining every drug education program in the world. When teenagers and young adults try marijuana and enjoy its calming effects they think these other drugs are in the same class because, after all, that's what they have been told their whole lives. So, they are likely to see little harm in experimenting with far more dangerous and deadly substances, like heroin because they are in the same "class" of drugs.
We do a disservice to our young people by continuing to hypocritically suggest every pot smoker uses other drugs and that the use of marijuana and other drugs are in any way related. This video is true in every respect except the conclusions they draw from the facts. Heroin is as addictive as they claim. People can become addicts in just a few days. More importantly, young people gain access when they participate in the harmless "crime" (what I would argue is a, potentially unproductive, recreational activity) because marijuana continues to be illegal, not because it is a gateway drug.
I would suggest that you look at this video clip:
This individual's book that he speaks about is a very short and informative book which I think every American should read.
The point is, by legalizing marijuana we can segregate it from the stigma of other far more dangerous drugs and prevent the gateway effect its criminalization inherently imposes. By legalizing marijuana we can regulate its use, find out exactly how many Americans are using marijuana, and better assess the dangers of the drug and its effects on the health, whether good or bad. More importantly, we would take a huge chunk out of "crime" by eliminating a black market that millions of Americans patronize. If the government is in control of that money, the taxpayers get to decide what we do with it. I would suggest we teach children about the dangers of heroin, a drug that kills, rather than spending millions annually on drug enforcement and keeping people like Mitchell Lawrence in jail for two years for selling a joints worth of pot.
The cost of criminalization of marijuana is great. It includes the costs of police officers and parole officers; it costs us to keep offenders in jail; it costs us the social benefit of those suffering from diseases who could benefit from medicinal marijuana. The costs for Mitchell Lawrence are likely to extend beyond his two year jail sentence because of the high rate of recidivism in this country. A rate caused by our own lack of compassion and ability to believe in the rehabilitation our criminal justice system is premised on providing. There are countless others like Mitchell Lawrence that taxpayers will support in the future through social services because they are unable to find jobs because of their criminal record. And why? The answer is simple and it is legalization. There are tons of Americans that want to and do smoke pot regularly. Anyone with a basic understanding of economics knows there is a price at which someone is going to be willing to supply the demand given his/her costs. These "costs" include those that are tangible and those which are not. They include the risk that the individual must take in order to provide the market demand. We are foolish as Americans if we think our drug laws are going to deter these "crimes". Rather, we continue to waste our money because of false conclusions like the ones evidences in this movie.
Other sources I encourage you to see:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pfuYXIIhmU
3 comments:
What does it mean to represent the American people? What do the American people expect from their representatives? How well do you feel your Representatives in Congress are doing the job of representing you, your children, your future? How much longer are we as a people going to allow the two party system of Democrats and Republicans to prevent any real changes in the fabric of our society? When each party pulls its Freshmen Representatives and Legislators into private sessions and tells them they are going to vote the party line or be opposed in the next elections by the party itself, what real change can be expected from them? Such a state of affairs creates an atmosphere in which each party must steadfastly and consistently denounce the other parties’ ideas as a matter of course, regardless of the merits to be found in the oppositions ideas.
What does the future hold for an America trapped in a 100+ year war on drugs and facing the reality that we have never even been close to winning? How many futures have been lost or compromised by the tendency of the judiciary to throw the harshest sentences at non-violent crimes and a penal system that plays favorites with murderers, rapists and pedophiles? I believe that there are very simple things that can be done that would provide incredible results in a timescale of weeks and months rather than years and decades!!!
Imagine if you will a national drug policy that would immediately take billions of dollars out of the hands of Hostile Governments, Terrorists, Organized Crime Cartels, Gangs, and corrupt Politicians, Peace Officers, Judges and Lawyers and put that money into practical use by the people and for the people! Imagine a policy that would allow for an evolution in the tax code making it possible to eradicate the property tax on U.S. citizens and for the first time in the history of our country provide Americans the opportunity to truly own the property they have paid for. Imagine a public policy that would provide for the downtrodden, the weak, the elderly and the mentally disabled and addicted, without demanding that more capable and or responsible American’s be held back by being made to pay for those that can’t or won’t pay for themselves.. Imagine a national drug policy that made sense and created results that could be immediately seen and felt throughout the country and the classes!!!
All of these things are completely possible, but not until we shed some very old and destructive ideas. The first and most damaging belief that neither Republicans nor Democrats seem to be willing to let go, is the idea that you can control an addictive commodity by criminalizing it. For over 100 years we as a nation have continued to believe that by making the most addictive commodities illegal to possess or distribute that we can eradicate the desire for the commodity itself. When that has failed to work we have continued the lunacy by increasing the fines and penalties for dealing in addictive commodities. However, all that these laws have done is increase the demand and the supply by making addictive commodities so lucrative that even people not considering such wares from a point of desperation have been hard pressed to stay away from them. Furthermore the policy trend has brought about an open fear and deep-seated contempt for police officers and law enforcement agencies that have had to become paramilitary organizations to keep up with the gangs and cartels that these policies have created!!!
Imagine what the reality of decriminalization for addictive commodities would be. I am referring to ALL ADDICTIVE COMMODITIES. If marijuana, heroin, cocaine and other such addictive commodities were decriminalized, HEAVILY taxed and the proceeds for those commodities were used to eradicate the property tax, several things could be reasonably expected to immediately follow. First and foremost, terrorists, organized crime cartels and gangs would lose control of the most lucrative commodities the world has ever known and the best market for such commodities in the world. Property values in the United Sates would soar, and agencies such as the Drug Enforcement Agency that cost American taxpayers billions of dollars annually without providing comparable results could be closed down. Last year the D.E.A.’s budget was two and one half Billion dollars. How many busses, computers, textbooks, and other educational expenses could that single budget pay for? How many addicts could be brought back to a more productive and healthy lifestyle with an annual budget of 2.5 billion dollars?
How many Americans are arrested and given criminal records each and every day as a result of our current policies? Between January 12, 2005 and September 30, 2005, there were 4,396 Federal offenders sentenced for marijuana-related charges in U.S. Courts. Think about that for a moment, almost 4,400 people incarcerated just on federal charges and only related to marijuana, in only 9 months! California alone averages 400,000 drug related arrests every year. What would the national impact of immediately ceasing such arrests be? It is time to use public policies at state and federal levels to moderate the use of the most damaging and destructive substances while using the proceeds to help those who want to quit get all the help and care they require to get clean and stay clean.
History has given us all the lessons we should require on this subject. The criminalization of alcohol created the highest crime and murder rates known to this country until the cartels and gangs made addictive commodities their stock in trade. Now with our National Security threatened by the liquidity of such commodities and the attraction of terrorists to such revenue streams, the war on drugs must be ended to prevent inadvertently aiding the terrorist war against western civilization. It is time to control the commodities and the proceeds in the only manner possible. By legalizing the sale and distribution of these commodities through state controlled and federally monitored retailers and taxing these commodities 300% or more.
The United States of America could see crime rates drop as much as 50%, possibly more within one year, and I would also expect the same rate of decrease in the national murder rate within a mere matter of months. The men and woman who represent us and our individual states owe it to each constituent to have an honest debate about this issue and to shed the ignorance and fear that has cost so many Americans their lives and the freedom of so many citizens for over 100 years and counting.
All I can say I that I don't think I have ever encountered anyone that I can honestly say I agree with absolutely everything they say! Mr. Sims has expressed in this short comment basically my entire view on drug policy in America. In my own post, of course, I tackled just a small fraction of my views for a variety of reasons. I suppose I believe it's easier for people to change their ways of thinking in small steps. However, you will certainly hear more about all of these issues on my blog.
On that note, I would suggest that that such a drug policy should be implemented on a gradual level because frankly, our economy (as he pointed out) relies on the illicit drug market. Although there is no fear in my mind that tomorrow Congress is going to legalize and tax all drugs, there would be an economic misalignment in our workforce if this were the case. In my estimation, this misalignment would create civil unrest in our most improverished communities which rely entirely on the illicit drug market to support themselves. By legalizing all drugs at once, we would strip them of their livelihood. While this is of course, the goal. We must be sure to replace it with something more productive and preferably something legal. It is my position we need to provide education and job skills before we take away this livelihood or these impoverished communities will turn to another form of illegal activity. More on all of this later.
When I was in college, I joined N.O.R.M.L, and referred to myself as a marijuana reformist, but just because you smoke pot every day or listen to rusted root and grow your hair long doesnt quite qualify you as a activist. I was in class (Drugs in Society) one day and we watched refer madness, a propaganda film manipulating young minds in the 50's that marijuana would turn you into a street prosty, or an axe murderer, or a strung out deadbeat, none of which have been scientifically proven. But what really pissed me off obout the film was that people were beleiving it, that the proaganda was indeed working and that parents all across the country thought refer was the devils drug. I can talk about why marijuana should be leagel all day, that it has no harmful properties and is not toxic to humans. That it would simplify the development of hemp as a valuable and diverse agricultural crop in the United States, including its development as a new bio-fuel to reduce carbon emissions. That Micheal Phelps does it so it has to be good, It would yada yada yada, I wrote a ten page paper in college about it, and you've mentioned some of the major points anyway, but do you belive that in our lifetime that marijuna will be leagel in all 50 states at the municipal level as well as at the federal Level?
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