A War That Can't Be Won  Why:According to government figures, nearly 70 million Americans have smoked marijuana at some time in their lives. The vast majority of these individuals are otherwise law-abiding citizens who work hard, raise families, and contribute to their communities. By stubbornly defining all marijuana smoking as criminal, including that which involves adults smoking in the privacy of their own homes, we are wasting police and prosecutorial resources, clogging courts, filling costly and scarce jail and prison space, and needlessly wrecking the lives and careers of genuinely good citizens.America tried alcohol prohibition between 1919 and 1931, but discovered that the crime and violence associated with prohibition was more damaging than the evil sought to be prohibited. With tobacco, America has learned over the last decade that education is the most effective way to discourage use. Yet, America fails to apply these lessons to marijuana policy. Nonviolent marijuana offenders often receive longer prison sentences than those allotted to violent offenders. Today marijuana prohibition costs taxpayers at least $7.5 billion annually. This is an enormous waste of scarce federal dollars that should be used to target violent crime. Most Americans do not want to spend scarce public funds incarcerating nonviolent marijuana offenders. Marijuana prohibition disproportionately impacts minorities. Blacks and Hispanics are over-represented both in the numbers of arrests and in the numbers of marijuana offenders incarcerated. Blacks and Hispanics make up 20 percent of the marijuana smokers in the United States, but comprise 58 percent of the marijuana offenders sentenced under federal law last year. What can we do:It is important that politicians hear from the people they serve. It is largely from letters, faxes, e-mail and telephone calls that elected officials decide whether to support a particular legislative proposal or not. Even if your comment does not change a politicians vote, it tells them how you feel. The more people who come to them with such voices of reason the more apt they will be to reexamine the issue.Letters to the editor is a great way to facilitate examination of the issue on a local level. Raising awareness is always a good thing. Progress:Oct 2003 - The United Kingdom reclassified marijuana from a class B to a class C drug. "By rescheduling cannabis, lawmakers have removed the police power to arrest marijuana users -- except in special circumstances. Now, in most cases, pot possession law violators will be subject solely to a ticket, fine and loss of their stashes."2001 - The governments of Belgium, Luxembourg and Portugal completely decriminalized the use and possession of marijuana.
Ask your representatives to legalize cannabis. | ||||||||