cannabisnews.com: Pot Prohibition Equals Blowing Smoke





Pot Prohibition Equals Blowing Smoke
Posted by CN Staff on October 05, 2004 at 23:39:34 PT
By DI Editorial Board
Source: Daily Iowan
Before getting all hyped up about the big "M" word - yes, marijuana - rest assured this is not a case radically calling for its complete legalization. Far from it.However, the contention that use of marijuana in limited amounts, without the intention to resell, should not be immediately punished with arrest is a viable one. It's far more sensible to sanction such an act with a simple citation than to treat it as a crime for which the offender can be incarcerated, as is the case in much of the United States.
This is exactly what the Chicago police Sgt. Tom Donegan was trying to communicate when he proposed this policy. Moreover, Mayor Richard M. Daley has endorsed it in the interest of saving the courts from petty (but costly) cases that tend to be thrown out by judges anyway.Beyond this, there are numerous reasons to support the reform, not just in Chicago but on a national level. One concerns where society places its priorities in fighting crime. Given the choice between spending valuable resources to apprehend murderers and sexual predators versus jailing nonviolent pot users, the choice is a no-brainer. Handcuffing people caught smoking joints and sending them to the county jail is hardly rational when many such places already face severe problems with overcrowding (think Johnson County, Iowa).There is no doubt whether the use of marijuana is injurious to health and should be penalized in some form. Its surreptitious and illicit distribution is even more problematic. However, we should keep in mind that policies concerning pot use are similar to what once existed for alcohol use - specifically, the failed attempt to stop consumption of alcohol through Prohibition. The complete ban on booze led to the development of a black market in which gangsters often had the upper hand and the environment was a smog of crime and violence. The current situation seems to be a terrifying déjà vu when considering the marijuana market, which looms as a dark and controversial issue in our society. Needless to say, the prohibition policy is collapsing once again right in front of our eyes. Strict laws and sentencing procedures do not necessarily mean less pot use and distribution.Government surveys show that nearly 100 million Americans have now used marijuana, an all-time record, and marijuana use by teenagers remains near record levels. The National Research Council looked at this data and concluded that stricter laws and tougher punishments have minimal effect on marijuana use. Furthermore, the Marijuana Policy Project argues that states should go even further, decriminalizing marijuana use and possession entirely, because no solid proof has been produced thus far showing a causal relationship between tough laws and lower marijuana use.Rather than employing extreme methods, as was once done with alcohol, it makes more sense to put into effect a system of regulation in which marijuana possession and use is a less-serious offense and can be controlled not through stiff jail time but through a simple fine. This will save time, money, and much-needed jail space. Smoking pot is not a violent crime; it shouldn't be treated as such.Source: Daily Iowan, The (IA Edu)Published: Wednesday, October 6, 2004 Copyright: 2004 The Daily IowanContact: daily-iowan uiowa.eduWebsite: http://www.dailyiowan.com/Related Articles & Web Site:Marijuana Policy Projecthttp://www.mpp.org/Sanity In Chicagohttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19568.shtmlRegulation Increases Control Over Pot http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19540.shtml Decriminalize Marijuana Users http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14876.shtmlThe New Politics of Pothttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14574.shtml 
Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help




Comment #11 posted by FoM on October 06, 2004 at 12:36:17 PT
goneposthole
I just checked Amazon and the new book is already number 13 in sales and it was just released yesterday. I feel hopeful that we might be getting thru to people. I hope so.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #10 posted by FoM on October 06, 2004 at 11:03:32 PT
goneposthole
Thank You! Great Link!Deja Vu All Over Again http://boss.streamos.com/real/geffen/john_fogerty/audio/deja_vu_all_over_again/deja_vu_all_over_again/00_lo.ram
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #9 posted by FoM on October 06, 2004 at 09:53:24 PT
Druid
I saw that article. I really try hard to stay out of it but this doesn't surprise me at all. I feel that they are going to do their best to shut down that whole particular area in Canada. I hope I'm wrong though.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #8 posted by Druid on October 06, 2004 at 07:33:45 PT
Holy Cow!
SEYMOUR ARM, British Columbia – Royal Canadian Mounted Police swarmed into on this lakeside hamlet and shut down what investigators said was a marijuana operation involving about half of the 60 residents.	Advertisement
Police Superintendent Marianne Ryan said 100 officers executed 28 search warrants at 14 homes and 14 vehicles at 7 a.m. Tuesday, finding several factory-sized pot factories within a 2½-mile radius. An undetermined number of firearms also were seized.The buildings contained as many as 5,000 plants and some had been operating for years in the rustic town about 240 miles northeast of Vancouver, police said. At least 16 people were arrested and more arrests are likely, Ryan said."We've never seen anything like this before, not where a whole community is affected this way," she said. ---------SNIPPED----------------------http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/world/20041006-0532-can-townpotbust.html
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #7 posted by siege on October 06, 2004 at 06:31:20 PT
        eyes
As President*** Bush ***, I have no eyes but constitutional eyes; I cannot see you.Abraham Lincoln:
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #6 posted by goneposthole on October 06, 2004 at 06:12:25 PT
another example of fooling everybody
Off TopicA few letters to Michael Moore from soldiers stationed in Iraq:http://www.commondreams.org/views04/1005-22.htmSomebody is getting fooled again.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #5 posted by goneposthole on October 06, 2004 at 05:58:20 PT
It can't be done
You can't fool all of the people all of the time.It all goes like this:"You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time."- Abraham Lincolnhttp://www.saidwhat.co.uk/quotes/a/abraham_lincoln_1038.phpFrom 1913 to 1933, some of the people were fooled all of the time.http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/Library/studies/nc/nc2a.htmThe cost of prohibition is becoming unbearable. Always has been. Always will be. It takes some longer to figure it out; I can't help it if you can fool some of the people for 67 years.I've been a fool for my entire life without really trying. It can be done.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #4 posted by kaptinemo on October 06, 2004 at 04:34:00 PT:
The magic word again: PROHIBITION
*However, we should keep in mind that policies concerning pot use are similar to what once existed for alcohol use - specifically, the failed attempt to stop consumption of alcohol through Prohibition.*It's starting to catch on, here and there. The media are 'getting it'...finally.I agree that this business of 'injuriousness' is mainly to short-stroke the diehard prohibs, but the very fact decrim is being discussed at all is a big plus in our favor. And it doesn't hurt that the article touches on just about all the major points of contention we've had from the begining.To paraphrase Bob Dylan: "Oh, the times, they (really!) are a-changin'."
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #3 posted by AgaetisByrjun on October 06, 2004 at 04:26:26 PT
Washington Post letters to the editor
 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A10117-2004Oct5.html I was sad and outraged to read the Oct. 1 Metro story about the death of Jonathan Magbie, a quadriplegic inmate in the custody of the D.C. Department of Corrections.Regardless of his innocence or guilt, is it not the duty of our government to defend and protect every citizen? Is not this duty amplified when a citizen is unable to defend or protect himself?Sentencing this young man to prison for marijuana possession made it incumbent upon his judge and jailers to accept the grave responsibility of not only rehabilitating him, but of keeping him alive. They failed in this basic duty.KAREN S. REINKESilver Spring•I am a nurse who cares for terminally ill patients. The death of Jonathan Magbie, the young man dependent on a ventilator, was predictable.Able-bodied patients with resources have a hard time getting competent care in our current health system. If Mr. Magbie said that marijuana brought him physical comfort, I believe it.And if the car in which he was riding contained a gun, it was a good bet that Mr. Magbie, a quadriplegic, was not the one who placed it there and an even better bet that he never would have had the ability to fire it.SUE EYNON LARKSilver Spring
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #2 posted by lombar on October 06, 2004 at 01:54:19 PT
Maybe they will get it one day...
"There is no doubt whether the use of marijuana is injurious to health and should be penalized in some form. "Actually there is quite a bit of doubt. If the cannabis is not smoked, what is the harm it causes? Even smoked the so-called damage is minimal (where are all the bodies?) And why can an alcohol consumer cut a swath of destruction and obnoxiousness through society and recieve no sanction for consuming alcohol while the peaceful cannabis consumer must face punishment for indulging in his/her drug of choice? Is is such a far leap to regulate cannabis like alcohol? We can never end drug use but we can eliminate the criminal element and the black market associated with cannabis."Smoking pot is not a violent crime; it shouldn't be treated as such."Smoking pot is not a crime at all except by arbitrary design, because there is not a clear victim. However, incarceration and any subsequent abuse that a cannabis smoker recieves is a crime. Loss of rights, property and freedom all consititute greater harm than cannabis usage could ever cause. The authorities seem so fixated upon punishing cannabis users for the crime of having a chemically induced pleasure. 
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #1 posted by dr slider on October 06, 2004 at 01:35:26 PT:
decrim is for bozos
"There is no doubt whether the use of marijuana is injurious to health and should be penalized in some form." (He's been well programed) After first apologizing for even uttering the "M word". The guy lays out the goofyest argument ever, concluding what exactly? He even states that "the prohibition policy is collapsing once again" and "the surruptitous and illicit distributiion is even more problematic."I guess "fine only" prohib is so that the jails will only be filled with those unable to pay the graft, just like they were intended. So we pay to stay out of jail, pay for the jail, pay its weight in gold for as Barthwell so aptly put it,"a weed", and inso doing fund every side of an endless war on our own. Lovely vision.
[ Post Comment ]


Post Comment