cannabisnews.com: Let These Possessors Go Let These Possessors Go Posted by CN Staff on January 07, 2003 at 11:12:54 PT By Paul Campos Source: News & Observer Twenty-five years ago, Lester Grinspoon noted in his classic study "Marihuana Reconsidered" that "the single greatest risk encountered by the user of the drug is that of being apprehended as a common criminal, incarcerated, and subjected to untold damage to his social life and career."What was true then is even more true today: Around 700,000 Americans are arrested annually for simply possessing marijuana, and more than 10,000 Americans are currently in jails and prisons because they have been convicted of marijuana possession, and no other crime. The government's propagandists are taking full advantage of these statistics: A new anti-drug commercial depicts the potentially devastating arrest of a teenage marijuana smoker (drug convictions bar students from receiving federal educational loans), and concludes: "Marijuana can get you busted. Harmless?" The commercial's unintentionally surreal message - that marijuana is illegal because it's harmful, and it's harmful because it's illegal - is one that seems likely to fill any young person capable of independent thought with contempt for both our marijuana laws and the dangerously authoritarian logic that supports and enforces them.Imagine if one were to extend this logic to, say, freedom of the press: The government could produce commercials depicting the arrest of young people caught reading "subversive" literature, in order to drive home the point that, if you happen to live under a sufficiently repressive regime, merely reading the wrong sort of book can be hazardous to your health.Anti-drug zealots will reply that books, unlike marijuana, are harmless. This is of course preposterous: Few things are more dangerous than books. How many millions of deaths can be traced to the publication of "The Communist Manifesto," or "Mein Kampf," or for that matter the Bible and the Quran? Yet this is hardly an argument for the repeal of the First Amendment.The idea that something ought to be criminalized because it isn't "harmless" is a key feature of the authoritarian mindset. It's an idea that allows for the criminalization of just about any imaginable activity, since almost nothing in this world is harmless. Marijuana isn't harmless, but it isn't nearly as harmful as, for example, alcohol - a substance that causes thousands of fatal overdoses every year (no one has ever died from an overdose of marijuana).So why don't we make America an alcohol-free nation by criminalizing alcohol? The superficial answer is that we tried that once and it was total failure. (Attempting to eliminate marijuana use has also been a total failure: Almost half the current adult population - nearly 100 million Americans - has used marijuana, and several million Americans continue to use it regularly.) The more nuanced answer is that making America an alcohol-free nation would actually be a bad thing, even if it were possible.This isn't merely because the costs of prohibition are so high. Most people who drink alcohol have benefited from the experience more than they've been harmed by it. What anti-drug zealots are incapable of acknowledging is that the same holds true for marijuana users. Indeed the evidence is overwhelming that, for the vast majority of marijuana users, their use has had no significant harmful effects, and many good ones.Yet as Grinspoon pointed out a quarter century ago, "reason has had little influence in this matter." The criminal prohibition of marijuana, he said, was due to "cultural factors that have nothing to do with the effect of the drug itself." In the years since little has changed, as we waste billions of dollars, and give free rein to an increasingly dangerous authoritarianism, in the futile attempt to stamp out this largely benign practice.Paul Campos is a law professor at the University of Colorado. He can be reached at: paul.campos colorado.eduSource: News & Observer (NC)Author: Paul CamposPublished: Tuesday, January 07, 2003 Copyright: 2003 The News and Observer Publishing CompanyContact: forum nando.comWebsite: http://www.newsobserver.com/Related Article & Web Site:Marijuana The Forbidden Medicinehttp://www.rxmarihuana.com/Pot Posture Fails Red-Face Test - Paul Camposhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread12995.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #9 posted by Morgan on January 08, 2003 at 07:32:25 PT Kerry Report http://www.webcom.com/pinknoiz/covert/contracoke.html [ Post Comment ] Comment #8 posted by greek_philosophizer on January 08, 2003 at 05:19:33 PT: Kerry Report ? What is the Kerry report?This is the first I have heard of it.Is not John Kerry running for President? [ Post Comment ] Comment #7 posted by delariand on January 07, 2003 at 19:31:44 PT Not much to say There's nothing I could put here that could compare to this article, I'd just like to express my gratitude to the author, for seeing the situation as it is and passing the knowledge on. Imagine the good that could be done if every American citizen read this article. [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by FoM on January 07, 2003 at 18:29:13 PT mayan Tonight on NBC Nightly News they did a piece with Arianna Huffington. Arianna and some hollywood people are putting together a commercial that is like the anti drug commercials but substitutes oil. It was good. Hope you see it.Road Outrage: How Corporate Greed And Political Corruption Paved The Way For The SUV ExplosionJanuary 6, 2003 http://www.ariannaonline.com/columns/files/010603.htmlGot Oil: http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14527.shtml [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by mayan on January 07, 2003 at 18:22:40 PT "Cultural Factors" Yet as Grinspoon pointed out a quarter century ago, "reason has had little influence in this matter." The criminal prohibition of marijuana, he said, was due to "cultural factors that have nothing to do with the effect of the drug itself." In the years since little has changed, as we waste billions of dollars, and give free rein to an increasingly dangerous authoritarianism, in the futile attempt to stamp out this largely benign practice.It is simply a war on us! A war against a renewable,sustainable culture, waged by profiteers of polluting,non-renewable,non-sustainable resources. Why are these profiteers hell-bent on invading Iraq? World oil production has peaked & they need the Middle-East oil to maintain their strangle-hold on power. Don't be surprised if this war spreads to Saudi Arabia,Iran & beyond. The greed-heads will stop at nothing to hold onto their power, even if that means throwing us into detention camps. If this war starts things will get real ugly and America will never be the same. It's all about the oil...Get ready!Straw Admits Oil is Key Priority: http://www.guardian.co.uk/guardianpolitics/story/0,3605,869796,00.htmlThe way out is the way in -9/11 - Guilt In High Places: http://emperors-clothes.com/indict/911page1&2.htmMake No Mistake About It - 9/11 Was An Inside Job: http://www.voxnyc.com/archives/00000076.htmAftermath: Unanswered Questions from 9/11(QuickTime Video, parts 1-4) http://www.guerrillanews.com/after_math/The 9/11 Truth Movement - Selected Resources for Researchers and Activists: http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/LEV212A.htmlSecret 9/11 Documents: http://www.hempbc.com/articles/2705.html9/11 "Conspiracies" and the Defactualisation of Analysis: http://www.mediamonitors.net/mosaddeq37.html9/11 Skeptics Unite: http://www.osamaskidneys.com/links.htmlPaul Thompson's Complete 9/11 Timeline: http://cooperativeresearch.org/completetimeline/The People's Investigation of 9/11: http://www.911pi.com/More 9/11 Links: http://www.keystonereport.com/911.htm [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by FoM on January 07, 2003 at 16:14:56 PT Like This p4me kapt's comment was #19 so behind the article put #19 and press enter and it will bring up the comment you want to use as a link and if those who would like to know kapt is fine just busy.http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread11449.shtml#19 [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by p4me on January 07, 2003 at 16:05:45 PT FoM, how do you reference individual comments First, let me say the Kerry Report should be regarded more of a cover-up than a real investigation and release to the American people. Even when it was released it was only briefly mentioned in only four major newspapers. The following two paragraph from the Columbia Journal Review also badmouth the media for their lack of coverage- "Even when a special Senate subcommittee on Terrorism, Narcotics, and International Operations, chaired by Senator John Kerry, released its long-awaited report, Drugs, Law Enforcement and Foreign Policy, big-media coverage constituted little more than a collective yawn. The 1,166-page report -- it covered not only the covert operations against Nicaragua, but also relations with Panama, Haiti, the Bahamas, and other countries involved in the drug trade -- was the first to document U.S. knowledge of, and tolerance for, drug smuggling under the guise of national security. "In the name of supporting the contras," the Kerry Committee concluded in a sad but stunning indictment, officials "abandoned the responsibility our government has for protecting our citizens from all threats to their security and well-being."Yet when the report was released on April 13, 1989, coverage was buried in the back pages of the major newspapers and all but ignored by the three major networks. The Washington Post ran a short article on page A20 that focused as much on the infighting within the committee as on its findings; The New York Times ran a short piece on A8; the Los Angeles Times ran a 589-word story on A11. (All of this was in sharp contrast to those newspapers' lengthy rebuttals to the Mercury News series seven years later - - collectively totalling over 30,000 words.) ABC's Nightline chose not to cover the release of the report. Consequently, the Kerry Committee report was relegated to oblivion; and opportunities were lost to pursue leads, address the obstruction from the CIA and the Justice Department that Senate investigators say they encountered, and both inform the public and lay the issue to rest. The story, concedes Doyle McManus, the Washington bureau chief of the Los Angeles Times, "did not get the coverage that it deserved."The above link comes from the early works at narconews- http://www.narco.news.xs2.net/kerry2000.htmlThere is a link to an old thread about Mena at FreeRepublic about Mena worth mentioning- http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a392f3206767e.htmFoM, I was wondering how to put up a link to a previous comment and for that matter how to bookmark a previous comment. Kaptinemo wrote a good comment on the media with reference to the book by Noam Chomsky. Maybe we should do like tv and do "The Best of" stuff since Kap is on break. Anyway how would you link to comment19 here http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/11/thread11449.shtmlLet's do the best of Jose Melendez in comment3 about John Walter's confirmation as Drug Bizarre- http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/12/thread12069.shtml [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by p4me on January 07, 2003 at 12:00:25 PT My email to Mr. Campos I enjoyed what you had to say Mr. Campos and being a member of the choir at cannabisnews.com, I can reduce what you said into the "Prohibition is stupid" category. The side that does not get presented though is that the government loves prohibition and the drug wars because of the power it gives them against political enemies. I would reference an article that appeared at Reason.com last January and the words of Michael Lavine who was a drug warrior or a WODier with the DEA and ATF and even Customs. http://reason.com/0201/fe.ml.battlefield.shtml He introduced the term testilying to me in this article and he says""Among DEA agents, the notion of really winning the drug war is so far out of the question that anyone who even mentions it is considered some kind of nut." Words used in the article as to the government really being serious about the substance abuse solution we know as WOD and the protection of the real kingpins from a kingpin say "We know what they are doing before they do. That’s the reality of the drug war. It’s completely fictitious. It’s only for the American people." The same theme of the WOD is reflected in this sentence- "Those of us who work overseas realize that this whole thing is a three-card monte game, that it’s a lie." I could find several sources that reflect my own personal viiew but it is handy in this article and should be said, "There is no U.S. Constitution any more when it comes to the drug war." I am glad to have you on the side of reform. I just wish someone would reflect the findings of the Kerry Report and say the government itself is a drug dealer and the largest one in the world at that. The UN set a stupid goal to eliminate illegal drug in 10 years in 1998 which is insane in itself. All the government cares about is keeping the price up and controlling who gets the money so it can be used for political enginnering around the world. The WOD may be a failure in reducing use of the oxymoronic term "controlled substances" but it sure does something the government wants done or they would not fight for its preservation. It just happens that marijuana is the most popular of these demonizid substances and the WOD's tent is held by this center pole. There would be no circus without the center pole. [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by FoM on January 07, 2003 at 11:16:54 PT Wonderful Article I just wanted to say I really appreciate this article. I hope to see more of them this year! [ Post Comment ] Post Comment