cannabisnews.com: Opinion: Legalize Pot Without Legitimizing It










  Opinion: Legalize Pot Without Legitimizing It

Posted by CN Staff on May 30, 2002 at 12:19:42 PT
By Elizabeth Hovde, Columbian Staff Writer 
Source: Columbian 

Gov. Gary Johnson of New Mexico, a Republican, was in Portland last week, offering the many compelling reasons to legalize marijuana. I am on his side, for the most part.   It is an odd side for conservatives to be on. Two weeks ago, when I mentioned my support for legalizing marijuana haphazardly and without context in a column about library Internet policies, several people wrote or commented to me that they were perplexed. 
Pro-legalizers have different motivations to be sure. Johnson told me that his are primarily cost motivated. That should be no surprise coming from a governor who came to reign straight from a business background and who claims more than 750 vetoes since he's been in office.   Johnson hates new laws and the idea of regulating every human behavior. He thinks criminalizing marijuana use is about as ridiculous as the proposal he once saw to require pole vaulters to wear helmets or the proposed law that would have required pet store owners to exercise dogs and cats according to legal guidelines. He joked about the creation of an animal fitness law enforcement division.   Johnson's cost-effective motivation is hard to argue. Of the 1.6 million Americans arrested on drug charges each year, Johnson says, 800,000 are for marijuana. Marijuana doesn't kill people, and it is certainlynot any worse on the body than tobacco or alcohol, which are legal and overused to the point of death and disease. Catching and incarcerating drug users is costing society a lot more than it would to offer voluntary rehab. Few argue this. People overdosing or causing lost productivity will do so whether drugs are legal or illegal. Without the fear of criminalization, it is even quite possible that more people would come forward to get help.   Johnson doesn't buy the idea that legalizing marijuana would increase the number of drug users and neither do I. As he put it, "how much more can use go up from 80 million Americans?" With half of high school seniors saying they have tried illegal drugs, he joked, "we should be telling kids to do drugs," we'd get better results. As for marijuana being a gateway drug? Johnson quips, "Beer didn't lead to Everclear."   Bottom line, Johnson says, make drugs legal for adults (not kids). Keep it criminal to deal to minors. And start treating drug use like the health problem it is just like alcohol and tobacco use. And what to say to kids? The truth: Drugs destroy. Just like alcohol and just like tobacco. Don't use 'em.    Marketplace can help    I believe there is even greater hope for legalizing marijuana than simply a decrease in the prison population and cost savings for those of us stuck paying drug users' way. Marijuana warriors can be diverted to other tasks. The FBI this week announced it was shifting 480 agents on drug and other criminal investigations to counterterrorism posts. Whether that is a good reallocation or not, clearly there are many law enforcers stuck fighting losing drug battles when they could be better protecting homes, families and communities in various ways.   The drug war has not been won through criminalization, treatment is more effective for those who want it than jail, and I believe the marketplace is better equipped to handle potheads than the law. Insurance companies should charge more for those who do drugs or partake in other high-risk activities. Employers should be able to fire any employee who comes to work stoned, just as they fire drunks. Drug use is not a selling point. Let the marketplace teach users that lesson.   Legalizing pot should happen today. We should then watch the results to consider legalization of deadly drugs such as cocaine, meth and heroin.   At no point, however, should we adopt Johnson's plans to actually assist drug users in their habit.   He believes, as many legalizers do, that harm-reduction strategies such as needle exchange programs and provision of maintenance drugs should accompany legalization. He argues this again on cost-effectiveness grounds. I say that this is where society can afford to be less cost-concerned.   Government should certainly not accommodate drug use. If junkies choose to be junkies and refuse treatment when offered, they must suffer the consequences of poor health decisions. Handing a heroin user a needle is no more compassionate than supplying johns to prostitutes.   We can legalize marijuana, while continuing to send the message that drugs are a horrible danger and waste of time. The current drug war proves we have nothing to lose. Source: Columbian, The (WA)Author: Elizabeth Hovde, Columbian Staff Writer Published: Thursday, May 30, 2002Copyright: 2002 The Columbian Publishing Co.Contact: editors columbian.comWebsite: http://www.columbian.com/Related Articles: What's He Smokin'? http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread12937.shtmlPot Culture: Legalize It -- and Kill Ithttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread12936.shtmlHigh Crime & Punishment http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread12935.shtmlDrug War Mutineerhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread12934.shtml 

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Comment #8 posted by RavingDave on May 31, 2002 at 21:17:48 PT
Whirled Peas
First of all, this is a great article. I do have a couple of problems with the following paragraph, though:"Government should certainly not accommodate drug use. If junkies choose to be junkies and refuse treatment when offered, they must suffer the consequences of poor health decisions."If this were purely a health issue, I might see the logic in this statement, even if I don't agree. However, the author fails to take into account the crime which is a result of unemployed junkies who need their fix. Since I don't see outright legalization of heroin around the corner, and since that's the only way to deal with the crime issue (ie. make it really cheap), needle exchanges and addiction-control programs are the next best viable solution. These programs have already been very successful in places like Switzerland and the Netherlands. We should learn from their examples."Handing a heroin user a needle is no more compassionate than supplying johns to prostitutes."This statement makes about as much sense as frying pans helping bathe warm jellyfish (whatever that means). I fail to see the correlation between prostitutes and heroin users. One group consists of addicts seeking a safe source of drug paraphernalia, while the other consists of a service provider looking for customers. I assume that the author is trying to imply that both are illegal activities which we don't want to condone. However, the fact is that heroin users are going to fix up no matter what we do. Needle exchanges are meant to deal with the spread of HIV, not encourage the use of drugs. That said, I do agree that we don't want to send a message that any kind of drug use is encouraged, especially to the youth of our world. The most compassionate end to this whole charade would be to:1) Legalize all drugs, thus upholding the constitution of the U.S. while simultaneously giving citizens back their freedom of choice.2) Ban all advertising of ALL drugs, including legal pharmaceuticals, alcohol, and tobacco. No one needs to be going to their doctor requesting Zoloft or Ritalin based on a TV commercial.Of course, while we're at it, why not just create utopia, a perpetual motion machine, world peace, etc...
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Comment #7 posted by gloovins on May 30, 2002 at 23:10:50 PT
UPDATE
Hi all, have emailed both Gov Johnson's & Gov Ventura's office yesterday asking merely if they'd accept if by some fluke they were to win a write-in for President & VP and get elected in 2004.I haven't heard back yet but when I do -- I'll let all know here. I did state that I wouln't pursue it if either declined to accept if elected by this means, so...as of now:WRITE-IN GOV. JOHNSON / GOV. VENTURA in 2004 FOR PRESIDENT & VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE USA!(and spread the word ya'll!)FOR THE GOOD OF THE PLANET, HEMP FOR VICTORY IN 2002 and beyond. The time has come (again)!
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Comment #6 posted by ekim on May 30, 2002 at 18:49:50 PT
wow 750 vetoes 
I would very much like to see a movie of the Gov. and Harry Brown and Ralph Nader. 
The Norml bus and train signs of the BigApple Mayor showed people can handle the truth. Views such as the good Gov. Johnson --Brown -- Nader must be carved in History as why this Drug War is against the good people of the U.S.A. Last week hearings on Capital Hill on energy gave glowing accounts of how Ethanol and renewables will cause the creation of many jobs and help clean the air. Ex CIA Dir. James Woosley is on every other TV cable news. He is the top Hemp lobbyest on the Hill. No one ever asks him about this. I called C-Span once and talked to HardBAll Mathews himself --asked him what he thought of Nader to which Chrissaid "when Ralph was talking about industral Hemp -- Like what is up with that" Gee Chris if only you could have spent a moment and researched Hemp maybe you could begin to put the puzzle together and connect the Dots. I like Hardball and watch it, Chris has said many times that we should be doing all we can to get off oil and fend for ourselves. Nader packed huge halls around the Country calling for Hemp and Cannabis be regulated. And the HardBAlls says Whats up with that. 
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Comment #5 posted by VitaminT on May 30, 2002 at 14:38:41 PT:
It's a PUBLIC health issue!!
". . . If junkies choose to be junkies and refuse treatment when offered, they must suffer the consequences of poor health decisions."and when that junkie prostitute gets aids from a dirty needle and passes it on to you or loved ones you can shake your head and say 'I told you so!'The simple fact is that WE ALL SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES
let's mitigate the HARMS of drugs and refrain from ostracizing the addict!this has been the opinion of but one Marijuana warrior who doesn't need to be diverted to other tasks. I HAVE A JOB!!!
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Comment #4 posted by xxdr_zombiexx on May 30, 2002 at 14:09:10 PT:
zombienote
cannabis smoking is already legitimate.
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