cannabisnews.com: Reefer Madness or a Good Start? 





Reefer Madness or a Good Start? 
Posted by CN Staff on January 09, 2008 at 21:01:41 PT
By Maureen Martin 
Source: Wisconsin State Journal
Wisconsin -- The Waukesha County Board voted recently -- and nearly unanimously -- to treat possession of marijuana by first-time offenders as a ticketed traffic-like offense rather than a crime.Has "Reefer Madness " struck Waukesha County? The answer may be yes, but only in the sense its decriminalization of marijuana possession doesn 't go far enough. It is, however, a good start.
In 2003, 26,494 persons were arrested in Wisconsin statewide for drug-related crimes, according to the Wisconsin Office of Justice Assistance. Of this number, 20,245 were arrested for drug possession. Almost 75 percent of those (14,097) were arrested for possession of marijuana.Statewide, the average rates of marijuana arrests per 100,000 population dwarfed arrests for possession of other drugs for 2001-03, OJA data disclosed. Nationally, in 2005, the Federal Bureau of Investigation reported some 786,545 persons were arrested for marijuana violations, of which 696,074 were arrested for possession of marijuana.At the same time, jail and prison incarceration rates for prisoners convicted of non-violent drug crimes and in need of substance abuse counseling were skyrocketing in Wisconsin. A 2006 study by Justice Strategies and supported by state Sen. Carol Roessler, R-Oshkosh, and state Rep. Garey Bies, R-Sister Bay, among others, found the state spent $83 million imprisoning such offenders, when drug treatment services could have been provided at a fraction of the cost.And the real numbers may be even higher. "Much of the behavior that packs Wisconsin 's prisons is rooted in drug and alcohol abuse, " the report states. "As one judge put it, Drugs drive all our crime, the whole caseload. The economics of the whole criminal justice system here is driven by addiction. ' " Overall, $43 million in annual savings would result from providing treatment in lieu of incarceration, the report concludes.And here 's why, according to George Melloan, retired deputy editor of The Wall Street Journal. Melloan wrote in 2006 that expenditures for drug prohibition limit supplies and drive prices up, predictably enough. The United States spends $50 billion at all levels of government for drug interdiction, according to Melloan, not counting the costs of expanded prisons. "The more the U.S. spends on interdiction, the more incentive it creates for taking the risk of running drugs. "Don 't ask those on the front lines of the war on drugs to save costs, he says."An army of government employees now makes a living from the drug laws and has a rather conflictive interest in claiming both that the drug laws are working and that more money is needed. "So one question for the taxpaying public, according to Melloan, is whether the use of marijuana should be legalized or decriminalized.The answer should be "yes " for both questions, and Waukesha County has moved in the right direction.Martin is a lawyer and a senior fellow for legal affairs at The Heartland Institute in Chicago.Source: Wisconsin State Journal (WI)Author:  Maureen Martin Published: January 8, 2008Copyright: 2008 Madison Newspapers, Inc.Contact: wsjopine madison.comWebsite: http://www.wisconsinstatejournal.com/Madison NORMLhttp://www.madisonnorml.org/CannabisNews -- Cannabis Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/cannabis.shtml
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Comment #3 posted by Patrick on January 10, 2008 at 10:23:01 PT
museman well said
Before we can 'save the free world' there has to be one first
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Comment #2 posted by museman on January 10, 2008 at 09:07:01 PT
drugs and addiction
Those are definitely the pivotal statements in that articleDrugs and addiction.Addiction is the real culprit, that drives people to act in ways that most of us find repulsive, and 'criminal.'However, with the new english language, recompiled to fit the DEA's dictionary, 'drugs, and addiciton' are exclusive to mean specific targeted substances, like pot (which has been proven, and documented time after time to not be addictive), heroin, cocaine, and the derivatives of those two. All the really dangerous addictions, like addiction to power, addiction to sex, addiction to money, addiction to TV, addiction to sugar and fat, addiction to war and violence, and finally, addiction to false religions, aren't even in the 'new book of addictions.' That 'new paradigm' of fake definition and meaning that was started by the guy who wrote 'Reefer Madness' was then picked up by Nixon, and then Reagan, polished off with just the right gestapo perspective by our beloved bushes, and pushed like a drug itself in the media, schools, and churches.If not for the addictions to wealth, power, war, and control of people, property, and -most importantly, and always overlooked- control of all our time, this world would be a different place.Freedom comes with a price that few really want to pay, and contrary to the infused popular belief, 'dying for your country' is only wasted lives, not 'the price of freedom.' That price is being paid in full right now in our prison system.I feel for those young men dying out there in the wars, and do not blame them for being brainwashed by their evil leaders, but their cause is no cause at all. Before we can 'save the free world' there has to be one first.
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Comment #1 posted by thestales on January 10, 2008 at 08:15:55 PT
drugs drive crime
As one judge put it, Drugs drive all our crime, the whole caseload. The economics of the whole criminal justice system here is driven by addictionand yet if herion were as cheap as asprin was..on the same shelf, like it was in 1913 before the harrison act, there would be no crimes needed to steal the 3.45 cents for a bottle of herion.but the challange is:"An army of government employees now makes a living from the drug laws and has a rather conflictive interest in claiming both that the drug laws are working and that more money is needed.and they don't want to give up their paychecks...how sick.America can be crime ridden and full of addicts so long as I get paid.
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