cannabisnews.com: Let's Follow Britain With New, Lax Pot Laws Let's Follow Britain With New, Lax Pot Laws Posted by CN Staff on July 15, 2002 at 08:29:12 PT By Sheryl McCarthy Source: Newsday The British took a big leap forward last week, announcing a plan to downgrade marijuana's status as an illegal drug. Instead of treating pot like much harder drugs, such as cocaine and heroin, Prime Minister Tony Blair's government will push a proposal to put it more on par with, say, steroids.Instead of arresting people who're caught with small amounts of marijuana, the police in most cases will simply confiscate the drugs and give the offender a warning. The point is to free the police to concentrate on more serious crimes, government officials said. With this latest move, Britain is finally getting more in step with the rest of Western Europe, where only a handful of Scandinavian countries still treat marijuana smoking as a crime. In Spain, Portugal, Belgium and the Netherlands, they don't arrest marijuana users; in Spain, and Portugal, not even hard-drug use is a crime.The United States should emulate its closest ally. Enough finger-pointing at the decadent Dutch, with their pot shops and needle parks. We'd be in the same league as the normally straitlaced Brits. A less flexible drug policy hasn't served the British well, since they have one of the highest drug-death rates in Western Europe. So it's time to try something more sensible.And since Tony Blair cozies up to George W. Bush on most things, maybe he could whisper in the president's ear that we have one of the most senseless drug policies in the world.In 2000, the last year for which the FBI has crime statistics, 743,000 people were arrested for marijuana offenses, 88 percent of them for simple possession. Before Rudolph Giuliani became mayor, fewer than 800 marijuana arrests were being made in New York City each year. After his crackdown on so-called quality-of-life crimes, the number skyrocketed to 52,000.If, as our current mayor, Mike Bloomberg, admits, he has not only smoked marijuana, but really enjoyed it, should we continue arresting 50,000 people a year for doing the same thing?Marijuana does not have the same connection to violence and crime that alcohol has, or the link to addiction, sickness and death that tobacco does. Yet alcohol and tobacco are legal - because so many Americans like to smoke and drink, and because these drugs support huge industries. Yet marijuana, a mild intoxicant that's associated with teenagers and younger adults, is treated like the drug from hell.Drugs are the third rail of U.S. politics, and few politicians are willing to call for changes in the current drug policy for fear of being called soft on drugs and soft on crime. Yet most politicians are out of synch with the American public.A recent Zogby poll asked, in light of the more pressing concerns caused by Sept. 11, if Americans favored arresting and jailing people for smoking marijuana. Sixty-one percent said they do not.Twelve states have already stopped arresting people who are caught with marijuana in public, and Nevada has a voters' initiative on the ballot this fall that could give it the most progressive marijuana policy in the nation. It would legalize possession of up to 3 ounces, authorize the state to open state-licensed marijuana shops and make marijuana available cheaply for medical purposes.The big obstacle is the federal law that forbids the use or possession or sale of marijuana, and even its use for medical reasons. The federal government should get out of the way and let the states adopt more reasonable policies, if they see fit. And the states, in short, should follow the Brits. Source: Newsday (NY)Author: Sheryl McCarthyPublished: July 15, 2002Copyright: 2002 Newsday Inc.Contact: letters newsday.comWebsite: http://www.newsday.com/Related Articles & Web Site:NORML Ad - Pictures & Articleshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/ad.htmBritain To Let Pot Smokers Off Lightlyhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13384.shtmlBritain Loosens Up on Pot http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13367.shtml NORML Puts the Mayor of Pot on the Spot http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread12570.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #5 posted by goneposthole on July 15, 2002 at 17:55:41 PT Drugwar dies a swift death? I have a blood relative who lost his life at the hands of a 'drug addict'.The poor guy was roobbed and beaten by a man with a desperate habit to feed.He died of fright, not the beating. The poor guy, and the poor guy who was addicted to a drug was not interested in seeing him die. He just wanted his money to buy more drugs. Just unfortunate circumstances, that's all.If drugs were legal, it might never have happened. Prohibition does not work.Prohibition creates criminals, not drugs. It definitely needs to end.It needs to be stated over and over again. Prohibitionists skulls are so thick, they're all bone.The voice of reason will prevail. [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by SirReal on July 15, 2002 at 14:44:25 PT ..ahem,..ahem... ".......I hear you!!...the American people hear you!!....the people who lock these people down hear you!!!!...what GWB should be saying today... [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by Nasarius on July 15, 2002 at 11:32:43 PT Wow... I was shocked to open my newspaper this morning and see this article in the editorial section. Kudos to Ms. McCarthy for having the courage to speak the truth. [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by JSM on July 15, 2002 at 10:52:02 PT whispers.. It wasn't too long ago that even mentioning marijuana was done very quietly and with only the utmost discretion. Now those voices who dare to tell the truth are uniting, growing in volume, and demanding to be heard. We hear them here, on other web sites, and even on other media. Change is coming slowing, but gathering speed and momentum. Prohibition will end. [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by kaptinemo on July 15, 2002 at 08:49:48 PT: CRACK! Crick-crick-crick! (The sound of a huge crack forming in the mortar of the DrugWar Berlin Wall...and running apace along its' length.)The first known major American media call to follow the lead of other nations in revamping our insane drug laws in light of our British cousins doing so. I now await the firestorm of anti criticism that's about to fall upon the intrepid Ms. McCarthy from 'concerned parent's groups' whose 'concern' is more self-serving than it is genuine. But as has been amply demonstrated by politicians such as Governors Johnson and Ventura, you can survive the firestorm if you stick to your guns. All you have to do...is keep breathing, Ms. McCarthy. Just keep breathing... [ Post Comment ] Post Comment