cannabisnews.com: Marijuana Policy Reform Crossroads





Marijuana Policy Reform Crossroads
Posted by CN Staff on December 11, 2002 at 09:51:31 PT
By Rob Kampia
Source: Washington Times
In news reports across the country, drug czar John Walters and other prohibitionists have been verbally high-fiving each other, declaring the defeat of my organization's ballot initiative in Nevada to be the death knell for efforts to reform our nation's marijuana policies. Actually, the November 5 results were more ambiguous -- and encouraging -- than the prohibitionists would have us believe. 
Our Nevada initiative was the boldest marijuana policy measure ever proposed. It would have: 1 - Removed the threat of arrest for adults who use and possess up to three ounces of marijuana. 2 - Required the state government to bring marijuana out of the criminal market and regulate it. 3 - Maintained criminal penalties for driving under the influence of marijuana, distributing or selling marijuana to minors, and smoking marijuana in public. This dramatic break from marijuana prohibition received 39 percent of the vote -- only 11 percentage points away from setting up a system that would have allowed police to focus on violent crime and terrorism rather than chasing down tens of thousands of nonviolent marijuana users. Meanwhile, 63 percent of San Francisco voters passed an initiative directing their city government to grow and distribute medical marijuana in defiance of federal law. And voters in all 19 legislative districts in Massachusetts passed marijuana "decriminalization" initiatives, directing their legislators to enact a statewide law that would impose fines rather than jail time for marijuana possession. In politics, you win some and you lose some: Overall, we have won seven out of seven state medical marijuana initiatives since 1996. In 1998 alone, voters passed our initiatives in Alaska, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, and the District of Columbia. Yet you didn't hear the drug warriors declaring their war on drugs to be doomed. And we didn't declare absolute victory in 1998 either, because we know that undoing our government's destructive marijuana policies is a long-term, difficult struggle. Make no mistake: The "noble experiment" of marijuana prohibition that was enacted in 1937 has been an abysmal failure. The goal of marijuana prohibition was to prevent people from using marijuana. Yet, according to government figures, only a tiny percentage of Americans had tried marijuana in 1937, but as of last month, a Time magazine poll indicated that 47 percent of adults -- an astounding 98 million people -- have used marijuana. Relegating marijuana sales to street corners and schoolyards guarantees that adolescents have easy access. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 88.5 percent of high-school seniors find marijuana "fairly easy" or "very easy" to get. After all, drug dealers don't card; regulated sellers of alcohol and cigarettes do. If marijuana prohibition were any other government program, the Republican Party would be clamoring to abort it. Thankfully, good, consistent Republicans like Rep. Ron Paul from Texas, William F. Buckley, and George Shultz have called for an end to the war on marijuana users. So what does the future hold? * On December 4 we launch our "War on the Drug Czar." During the Nevada campaign, drug czar John Walters declared war on the law and on the truth. He violated both federal and state law by using his office to conduct a dishonest, misleading campaign against our ballot initiative while failing to file any campaign finance reports for his activity. We are calling him to account by filing complaints with the federal Office of Special Counsel and Nevada's secretary of state. * We will be sponsoring more statewide medical marijuana ballot initiatives in the West and Midwest, while lobbying for medical marijuana bills in state legislatures in the East. According to the Time poll, 80 percent of Americans believe adults should be legally permitted to use marijuana for medical purposes. * We will continue to educate the American people about why prohibition doesn't work. The Time poll -- like the two most recent USA Today / Gallup polls -- shows that 34 percent of the American people want to "legalize" marijuana, and a majority say adult marijuana users should not go to jail. We aren't as far away from ending marijuana prohibition as the drug warriors would have us believe. Source: Washington Times (DC)Author: Rob Kampia, Executive Director, MPP Published: December 08, 2002Copyright: 2002 News World Communications, Inc. Website: http://www.washtimes.com/Contact: letters washingtontimes.comRelated Articles & Web Sites:Marijuana Policy Project http://www.mpp.orgDrug Reformers Are Regroupinghttp://freedomtoexhale.com/abocr.htmMPP Files Complaint Against Drug Czarhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14902.shtmlRebellion Against the Drug Czarhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14885.shtml Marijuana Backers Pledge Continued Effortshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14680.shtml
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