cannabisnews.com: Time for America To Get Realistic About Marijuana





Time for America To Get Realistic About Marijuana
Posted by CN Staff on January 07, 2005 at 15:03:39 PT
By Alice Collinsworth, The Edmond Sun
Source: Edmond Sun
Americans are strangely ambivalent in their feelings about marijuana. Nearly 100 million Americans over age 12 admit to smoking pot at least once in their lives, and it’s estimated that at least 5 percent of our citizens use marijuana on a regular basis. And these aren’t just scruffy-looking teenagers, either — many professional “older adults” admit to having a dime bag or two lying around the condo.
I grew up in the pot-smoking days of the 60s and 70s, so I’ve heard my share of arguments about marijuana usage. I never smoked myself, but I knew plenty of people who did. Marijuana offenses are still common; an estimated 700,000 arrests for possession are made in the U.S each year. Yet a 2003 study says that 40 percent of Americans now believe that marijuana should be treated the same as alcohol: regulated, controlled, taxed, and kept out of the hands of children, but decriminalized. No other law is enforced so widely and yet deemed unnecessary by so many people. Two upcoming cases in the U.S. Supreme Court illustrate this double standard. On one hand, the justices are considering how to regulate the use of marijuana for certain medical conditions. Although there is no federal guideline approving the use of cannabis in medical cases, at least 10 states have instituted laws protecting the rights of certain patients to use it. Yet questions remain about growing and using marijuana for these purposes, and what role the federal government should play, if any, in the standardization of these laws. On another front, the Supreme Court is also debating whether drug-sniffing dogs can be used in routine traffic stops. The original case involves a man who was stopped in Illinois for a minor traffic violation, when a police drug dog alerted to his car trunk. Officers found $250,000 worth of marijuana stashed inside. The man claims that the use of dogs to sniff out an automobile amounts to illegal search and seizure, since a car is presumed to be private property. The Supreme Court justices will soon decide whether one’s vehicle is protected equally with one’s home. If the court does rule that drug dogs can’t be used in traffic stops, law enforcement officials say that there will likely be a major increase in the amount of marijuana and other controlled substances being transported. So after the justices do their deliberating, they might end up deciding that it’s okay to carry a few bales of pot around in your car trunk, because that’s your private property. But if a person is dying of cancer or suffering from a debilitating disease, and they’re caught with a few joints in their pocket, they could be arrested. As Spock would say to Captain Kirk, that’s highly illogical. It’s time that we Americans make up our minds about marijuana, and how we want it to be used and regulated in the future. Some European countries have totally legalized cannabis, making it available in public “coffee shops,” and neither usage nor social problems have increased. While U.S. citizens are not likely to favor total legalization of the drug, some compromise should probably be outlined — perhaps the decriminalization of minor possession charges, at least, with standard enforcement in all 50 states. And, of course, we should regulate the use of cannabis for medical conditions. Some people fear that decriminalizing marijuana, or even approving its medicinal use, would send a mixed message to young people about drugs. Yet prescription painkillers, much more harmful and deadly, are readily available on the street. Should we outlaw the legitimate use of narcotic pain pills because some people abuse them, too? We also need to consider what message we’re sending by condoning the use of alcohol and tobacco — both of which cause far more problems, health-wise and societally, than cannabis. Deciding what to do with marijuana in our country is a complicated issue, but taking the drug away from chronically-ill patients — or allowing huge amounts of it to remain “private” in a suspected drug dealer’s car trunk — surely isn’t the answer. Do we want Uncle Sam in our doctors’ offices, interfering with private medical decisions made by patient and physician? It seems to me we’d be better off to have him standing by the roadside, enabling our law enforcement officers, both canine and human, to detain drug traffickers. I hope our Supreme Court justices can find a way to sort through the questions and begin to take a consistent and logical stance on this issue.Source: Edmond Sun, The (OK)Author: Alice Collinsworth, The Edmond SunPublished: January 7, 2005Copyright: 2005 The Edmond SunContact: rcollins edmondsun.comWebsite: http://www.edmondsun.com/Related Articles & Web Site:Angel Raich v. Ashcroft Newshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/raich.htm'I Really Consider Cannabis My Miracle'http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread20078.shtmlHigh Expectations - San Francisco Bay Guardianhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread20069.shtmlCourt Considers When Cops Can Use Canineshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19802.shtml
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Comment #9 posted by Hope on January 08, 2005 at 08:57:25 PT
Kegan
I was trying to find out if the wonderful letter below was published. Do you know if it was?In searching, I found another intelligent, well thought out letter from Russell Barth, published just this week.http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n025/a02.html?227493
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Comment #8 posted by FoM on January 08, 2005 at 08:30:53 PT
Kegan
Thank you for posting your LTE. Keep up the great work you are doing.
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Comment #7 posted by Kegan on January 08, 2005 at 05:30:17 PT
LTE
To The Editor,RE: Time for America To Get Realistic About MarijuanaIt is unlikely that the US will get "realistic" about marijuana any time soon. Under the Bush Regime, marijuana is public enemy number one, because the cannabis plant, and it's close cousin hemp, are a serious economic threat to the pharmaceutical and oil industries respectively. Not to mention the whole cultural war being waged against free-thinkers and "liberals". Too bad the White House hasn't put as much effort into finding Osama Bin Laden as they have arresting and incarcerating pot-smokers. The US has 5% of the world's population, yet have 25% of the world's prisoners. "Land of the free" indeed!Just like here in Canada, the way that the marijuana prohibition laws will fall is in the courts. Unfortunately for the US, the Supreme Court is packed with neo-cons who regularly ignore the Constitution. Remember how long it took the US to free the slaves and then give blacks the right to vote. The marijuana war will likely wage in the US for many more years, because "realistic" is just not part of their vocabulary any more, and is overpowered by ideology. Russell BarthEducators For Sensible Drug PolicyOttawa
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Comment #6 posted by Hope on January 07, 2005 at 18:22:03 PT
Collinsworth
Collinsworth is seeing some light and tries stepping forward, but she shrank back in some kind of fear at the last minute. Back into the "darkness".Very interesting.Kap, your description of the article is perfect. Goneposthole and Mayan...you got it right.P.S.Maybe she didn't "shrink back"...maybe she was "forced back" by someone.
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Comment #5 posted by Sukoi on January 07, 2005 at 17:51:06 PT
A few articles
Man Sentenced to be Walking Anti-Drug Billboardhttp://kdka.com/local/local_story_007113345.html/?can_view=007154909Recount of votes on pot measure should end todayhttp://www.insidebayarea.com/review/ci_2517729Stop blocking marijuana researchhttp://www.oregonlive.com/editorials/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/editorial/110510273055450.xml
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Comment #4 posted by mayan on January 07, 2005 at 17:19:46 PT
"Mixed Message"
Some people fear that decriminalizing marijuana, or even approving its medicinal use, would send a mixed message to young people about drugs.The young people in America overwhelmingly support the legalization of cannabis. They are perfectly aware that they have been fed "dishonest messages" regarding this amazing plant. They will grow up believing nothing that the government says. Too much hypocrisy and too many "mixed messages". THE WAY OUT IS THE WAY IN...  A Bigger Picture: News collection chronicles pre-9/11 events:
http://911citizenswatch.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=433&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0Paul Thompson's Complete 9/11 Timeline:
http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/project.jsp?project=911_projectGerman Engineers Help the USA - What had happened exactly on 9/11?
http://home.debitel.net/user/andreas.bunkahle/defaulte.htmMile Ruppert to Speak in Seattle - Saturday, January 15th:
http://www.septembereleventh.org/seattle/index.php9/11 Was an Inside Job - A Call to All True Patriots:
http://www.911sharethetruth.com/
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Comment #3 posted by goneposthole on January 07, 2005 at 16:15:08 PT
She almost got it right
"It’s time that we Americans make up our minds about marijuana, and how we want it to be used and regulated in the future."It should read: It’s time that we Americans make up our minds about our slavery, and how we want to be used and regulated in the future.I think that is what she really meant to say.
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Comment #2 posted by goneposthole on January 07, 2005 at 15:48:23 PT
time for the US gov to get real...
about everything.If they really had the guts to do it, the congressional, executive and judicial branches of our government would own up to their mistakes and be realistic about what it has all become.Legalization of marijuana would be a good start. Then it could turn its attention to more grave matters and realize the folly of the war in Iraq. Then, if it really comes to its senses, the US gov will begin to feel guilty about how much it has picked on the average citizen the past 91 years or so and give the the man/woman on the street a much needed break.If it comes to its senses and gets real real fast. The powers that be need help. They have taken the American people for granted. The US gov has become too fast and loose for its own good and is ending up on the losing side of what matters. It is losing the American people, too.
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Comment #1 posted by kaptinemo on January 07, 2005 at 15:33:48 PT:
Why do they always do it?
Always, always, always...some in the media gets a running start out of the gate, coming on strong, sprinting for the goal, the finish line is inches away...and they stumble, crashing arse over teakettle, ramming their faces into the dirt in ignominous clumsiness.*Do we want Uncle Sam in our doctors’ offices, interfering with private medical decisions made by patient and physician? It seems to me we’d be better off to have him standing by the roadside, enabling our law enforcement officers, both canine and human, to detain drug traffickers. I hope our Supreme Court justices can find a way to sort through the questions and begin to take a consistent and logical stance on this issue.*Honey, I don't want cops to be able to stop me for anything that strikes their fancy, whether I am holding or not. That's what you have in police states, not in putatively free constitutional republicsShe just doesn't get it: any rights surrendered to the government is power forever lost to protect yourself from the inevitable governmental abuses. She'd happily trade her freedom of travel to 'fight' an almost non-existant threat which would be nullified immediately were cannabis re-legalized. But this author is so steeped in nanny-state logic that she cannot conceive of a country where you can tell some officious little martinet *cum* Barney Fife of an LEO to mind his own business by keeping his (and his dog's) nose out of yours.It's said that to a man with a hammer, every problem looks like a nail. Conversely, to a cop, every 'civilian' is a potential collar, worthy of suspicion. Giving them the tools to arbitrarily stop you for any thing will lead to instances of precisely that. With the ensuing - and increasing! - loss of freedoms and respect for law all around. It's a process our Founding Fathers knew all too well...and fought a long hard civil war commonly misnamed the Revolutionary War to stop...
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