cannabisnews.com: Reefer Madness: Marijuana Beyond Medicine





Reefer Madness: Marijuana Beyond Medicine
Posted by CN Staff on October 20, 2003 at 23:07:54 PT
By Shaka Shaw
Source: The Hilltop
It seems as if recently, the line between politics and entertainment has become blurred. There was a time when the media presence of politicians and political candidates was limited to Larry King and legitimate news programs and stations.Senator John Edwards made history as the first to announce his presidential candidacy on a comedy show, namely Comedy Central's Daily Show with John Stewart. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced his candidacy for governor of California on Jay Leno.
Though some might lament this departure from the norm, I think that this trend creates an opportunity for politics to become more accessible to an audience that might not necessarily tune in to CNN every evening. Given this new accessibility, it's rather obvious that it is time to re-examine our views as a country on the issue of legalizing marijuana for both medicinal and recreational use.Though many of the current presidential candidates have taken a decidedly vague stance on the issue of medical marijuana, George W. Bush has been very clear in his actions that his administration does not support the use of marijuana nor does it support the deregulation of its use for medicinal purposes.According to a report from the Granite Staters for Medical Marijuana, Bush has attempted to "undercut" Proposition 215, which was approved in 1996 and grants legal access to medical marijuana. Bush's staunch position on this issue seems somewhat skewed, however, if you take into consideration the well-known Cheech-and-Chong-like exploits of his own pot-loving daughters.In 1936, a propaganda film entitled Reefer Madness was released to the public in an attempt to discourage youths from using the drug. The film, though serious in its intent, has become a cult hit for its unintentionally hilarious portrayal of the "crazed" pot-smoker, listing among the drug's symptoms an affinity for jazz music. Grossly uninformed and misguided in theory, this film seems to be the muse for Bush's current action toward marijuana legislation.Unless you've been living in a cave in Afghanistan, you've seen the anti-marijuana commercials that White House Office of National Drug Control Policy has sponsored to stop the "threat" of marijuana usage among American youth. One commercial even goes so far as to cite that marijuana sales support terrorism. Others try to pin the symptoms of impairment of judgment, reckless behavior, and lack of ambition on users of the drug. The most notorious ad is perhaps the commercial where some pot-smokers in a car run over a little kid on a bike.My question is: Where are all the anti-crack ads on television? Since crack is not a drug that heavily affects middle- to upper-middle class youth in suburbia, it does not seem to be a priority for Bush's administration. How can you list a drug that simply makes you want to eat a bowl of Fruity Pebbles and take a nap as a threat to the public safety?Twelve state legislatures since 1973 have altered their views on decriminalization of marijuana. Usage and/or possession of marijuana in said states no longer warrants jail time or arrest. Each year, marijuana prohibition costs Americans about $10 billion in tax dollars and results in the arrest of over 734,000 people. Considering the abhorrent state of public K-12 education in the United States, that money could be put to better use prosecuting real criminals, not marijuana offenders.Some would be surprised at the statistics associated with marijuana usage, recreational and medicinal. According to a 2001 report from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration, about 12 million Americans use marijuana regularly. It is the third most popular recreational drug right behind alcohol and tobacco, which are legal yet physically more dangerous than marijuana.A distinguished UK medical journal called The Lancet went on record stating that "the smoking of cannabis, even long term, is not harmful to health". Meanwhile, tobacco kills over 400,000 a year and alcohol poisoning weighs in at an approximate 50,000 deaths a year.With Bush still in power, however, there doesn't seem to be an end in sight to the crackdown on marijuana across the nation. A spokesman for the DEA in Washington, D.C. echoes the policy of the Bush anti-drug administration: "We do not target drug users...We target drug-traffickers. There is no such term as medical marijuana, except as created by the marijuana lobby."However, the question remains: How many more dollars will the President direct away from our schools and community-building programs and into the prohibition of marijuana? And for how long will American taxpayers tolerate it?Source: The Hilltop (DC)Author: Shaka ShawPublished: October 20, 2003Copyright: 2003 The HilltopWebsite: http://www.thehilltoponline.com/Contact: http://www.thehilltoponline.com/main.cfm?include=submitRelated Articles & Web Site:Granite Staters for Medical Marijuanahttp://www.granitestaters.com/I Have Seen The Future, And It Is Smoky http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread17438.shtmlCannabis Crusades: Anti-Pot Ads Have Backfired http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread17407.shtml
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Comment #1 posted by E_Johnson on October 21, 2003 at 01:05:48 PT
The black middle class is defecting?
An editorial against cannabis prohibition at Howard University? That's another crack in the wall.The African American middle class in America so far has gone along with cannabis prohibition. At least officially, that is.When that ceases to be true... 
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