Cannabis News NORML - Working to Reform Marijuana Laws
  America's War on Drugs Sputters to an End
Posted by CN Staff on November 21, 2012 at 16:53:10 PT
By Diane Dimond 
Source: Huffington Post 

cannabis Washington, D.C. -- I'm going to make a bold prediction. America's War on Drugs is now officially over. Oh, no one in Washington is going to make any sort of announcement to confirm this but take it from me -- our four-decades-old drug war strategy is now formally kaput. To be entirely honest, it has been sputtering along for years now accomplishing little and costing us upward of a trillion dollars.

Citizens in two states -- Washington and Colorado -- sealed the deal. They voted that marijuana should be legalized, no prescription or medical excuse needed. And not only is recreational pot smoking by adults legal in those two places now, medicinal use of marijuana is already the will of the people in 18 other states and the District of Columbia.

Sure looks like a trend to me.

President Obama's Justice Department still considers marijuana to be an illegal substance and in the past Attorney General Eric Holder has moved to shut down legally-mandated medicinal clinics and to penalize those who use marijuana for health care. But in advance of this November's pro-pot votes, A.G. Holder issued none of the usual dire warnings about enforcement. Hmmm, I wonder why not?

Perhaps Washington has quietly decided to join with what a majority of Americans think -- that marijuana should be legalized. The President is clearly driving this bus.

An article this past July in GQ reported that President Obama had a plan for his second term to move away from military wars and to "pivot to the drug war," here at home. The magazine said ever since his days as a state senator in Illinois, "Obama has considered the Drug War to be a failure." And during Mr. Obama's first run at the White House he told an interviewer, "I think the basic concept (of) using medical marijuana in the same way, with the same controls as other drugs prescribed (is) entirely appropriate."

As soon as the newly passed laws are certified it will be legal In Colorado for an adult to grow up to six pot plants and smoke it in the comfort of their own home or any other private location. In Washington, consumers will be able to buy marijuana from state-licensed providers.

Most important? The new laws to legalize, regulate and tax the weed are expected to either save or generate multiple millions of dollars for these states.

Once that happens how long do you think it will take other cash-strapped states to follow this lead? That's right, probably not long at all. Marijuana money will go a long way toward helping states pay the bills.

Washington and Colorado will soon see their police officers become unburdened from making picayune pot possession arrests. Their costly jail and prison populations will begin to dwindle. Their courts and prosecutors will finally get out from under the massive numbers of small time drug-bust cases that are so expensive and clog the dockets. Everyone will be freed up to focus on much more serious crime and justice matters.

The budget balancing rewards of legalizing recreational pot will simply be too tempting for other states to ignore.

If you doubt the new pot laws will have much of a financial impact consider these facts:

Every 42 seconds police make a marijuana arrest somewhere in America. That's according to Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (L.E.A.P.), a group of police officers, judges, prosecutors and other criminal justice professionals who advocate the legalization of pot.

A recent FBI report concluded that 750,000 Americans were arrested on marijuana laws last year, almost 90 percent for mere possession of pot. With that many arrests can you imagine how many more Americans smoke pot and just haven't been arrested?

The National Geographic Channel reports that at least 15 million U.S. citizens use marijuana at least once a month.

Once the positive economic reality of regulating and taxing marijuana becomes evident, how long do you think it will be before we start hearing serious talk about legalizing and regulating all street drugs? That's right, not long at all.

It is so logical, yet, I can just hear the knee-jerk protest from those spouting tired laments.

But teenagers will get their hands on marijuana!

People high on pot will get behind the wheel and drive!

Smoking marijuana can kill brain cells and cause other health problems!

Let's not kid ourselves. Those things are already happening and we have dealt with it. When pot is legalized it doesn't mean existing laws are tossed out.

There will still be statutes against smoking in public, illegal underage sales and use and driving under the influence. As for the health issues marijuana might cause? Well, I don't think the government should be in the business of regulating personal choice about what someone puts in their body -- not sugary drinks and certainly not some weed that so many citizens have voted should be legal to smoke.

I understand there is still the argument that smoking marijuana leads users to harder drugs like cocaine, meth or heroin. People prone to abuse their bodies with cigarettes and alcohol have been known to turn to other addictive substances. But, the fact is, there are no conclusive scientific studies proving marijuana is a gateway drug.

One more point. If America -- no, I'll say when America legalizes marijuana, think of what that will do to the profit margin of the vicious drug cartels.

The money made by criminal enterprises in foreign countries could stay right here in America if we just got our playbook straight.

What's lacking is definitive leadership from Washington. That's a shame because this legalization train is moving down the tracks with or without the politicians.

Diane Dimond may be reached through her web site: http://www.DianeDimond.com

Source: Huffington Post (NY)
Author: Diane Dimond
Published: November 21, 2012
Copyright: 2012 HuffingtonPost.com, LLC
Contact: scoop@huffingtonpost.com
Website: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/
URL: http://drugsense.org/url/TBrNqZ4s

CannabisNews -- Cannabis Archives
http://cannabisnews.com/news/list/cannabis.shtml


Home    Comment    Email    Register    Recent Comments    Help    Share on Facebook Share on stumbleupon digg it Share on reddit Share on del.icio.us

 
Comment #8 posted by afterburner on November 27, 2012 at 00:09:36 PT
Hope #4
"The INCB has no enforcement ability."

Toothless saber rattling!

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #7 posted by MikeEEEEE on November 23, 2012 at 19:00:10 PT
Hope
I don't think they all are weak minded sheep, brain washed by propaganda. At least a few have a good money making gig going on, and want to keep it that way.

No matter whether the govt wants to waste money, money they do not have, to stop the wave of change, the truth exists: the prohibitionist experiment has failed.

My advice to Yans, don't bet on prohibition as a future.



[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #6 posted by Hope on November 23, 2012 at 17:09:59 PT
MikeEEEEE
Right.

The prohibitionists are murderous types.

They've been willing to kill and willing to die to keep you from using cannabis.

They won't give up easily on this. Vote of the majority of Americans or not or not. They are too poisonous. They are too invested. They are the "True Believers" in their prohibition and their right to inflict it on others.

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #5 posted by MikeEEEEE on November 23, 2012 at 16:51:38 PT
hope, consider this...
Persons who feed off the suffering and imprisonment have an interest in protecting their job security, ie: "Yans heads the International Narcotics Control Board"

Perhaps Yans does not know the difference between marijuana and narcotics. Yet he knows part his job title (keyword): CONTROL.

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #4 posted by Hope on November 23, 2012 at 15:31:52 PT
The United Nations is weighing in.
UN official urges U.S. to challenge Colorado, Washington marijuana laws

http://www.oregonlive.com/today/index.ssf/2012/11/un_official_urges_us_to_challe.html



[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #3 posted by Ryannn29 on November 23, 2012 at 09:08:56 PT
You mean the war on cannabis is over
You mean the war on cannabis is nearly over. There's still a number of other natural plant substances which have immense healing value to humans (ex: ayahuasca), yet are treated like the terrible synthetic or partially-altered drugs created by man (ex: meth, heroin, PCP).

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #2 posted by sinsibility on November 23, 2012 at 04:34:14 PT:

Already Protected
If there is anything good being accomplished by the prohibition of marijuana, it doesn't justify the incredible waste of public resources to enforce it. What is clear is that a lot of people want to be able to enjoy it, whatever their reasons are. There is universal understanding that trying to make it unavailable doesn't work. It is more available than ever before and of higher quality.

What does work is reasonable regulation, which creates lawful, revenue generating channels of availability. Just this much encourages new business and investment, and takes the incentive for pot smuggling away, along with all the violence associated with it.

As for any public safety issues that come along with a legal market, there are already laws in place that assure that law enforcement can protect us.

The missing link that will pacify the wary will be a reliable test to show the real time level of impairment. That is where the greatest profits will be made, selling easy to administer tests that indicate accurately if someone is under the influence right then and how much they are impaired.

Then we are working with facts and not irrational fear.

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #1 posted by Relfving on November 22, 2012 at 01:01:13 PT:

Legalization
It's about time this war on drugs comes to a stop. My God! 750,000 arrests last year for marijuana possession. I read scientific evidence that marijuana was less harmful than alcohol back in 1967 and began to use it. I quit it on religious reasons back in 1972. I am now for the last two using it again as a medical patient here in California, I read all the substance classifications. I don't think is should be in any of the first five. I think it is harmless and I enjoy it quite a bit. It gives me good appetite when I don't have any.

[ Post Comment ]

  Post Comment
Name:        Password:
E-Mail:

Subject:

Comment:   [Please refrain from using profanity in your message]

Link URL:
Link Title:


Return to Main Menu


So everyone may enjoy this service and to keep it running, here are some guidelines: NO spamming, NO commercial advertising, NO flamming, NO illegal activity, and NO sexually explicit materials. Lastly, we reserve the right to remove any message for any reason!

This web page and related elements are for informative purposes only and thus the use of any of this information is at your risk! We do not own nor are responsible for visitor comments. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107 and The Berne Convention on Literary and Artistic Works, Article 10, news clippings on this site are made available without profit for research and educational purposes. Any trademarks, trade names, service marks, or service names used on this site are the property of their respective owners. Page updated on November 21, 2012 at 16:53:10