Criminalization of Marijuana Must End /The Hill Congresses Blog

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 6th, 2008 at 9:46 am and is filed under Politics .


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The Hill Blog» Blog Archive » Criminalization of Marijuana Must End

The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) supports the elimination of all criminal and civil penalties for the personal use of cannabis, regardless of whether one is smoking cannabis for medical use or for personal pleasure. This policy is generally called â??decriminalization.â?� We also support the right of consumers to cultivate cannabis for personal use.

We further support the eventual establishment of a legally regulated market where adult cannabis consumers could buy their marijuana from a safe and secure environment. This model is generally called â??legalization.â?�

There is absolutely nothing wrong with the responsible use of cannabis by adults and this should be of no interest or concern to the government.

In truth, cannabis is the third most popular recreational drug in American, exceed in popularity only by alcohol and tobacco, two legal but far more harmful drugs.

While no substance is totally harmless, cannabis smoking is far less of a threat to health than either tobacco or alcohol. According to the Centers for Disease Control, approximately 46,000 people die each year from alcohol-induced deaths (not including motor vehicle fatalities where alcohol impairment was a contributing factor), such as overdose and cirrhosis. Similarly, more than 440,000 premature deaths annually are attributed to tobacco smoking. By comparison, cannabis is non-toxic and cannot cause death by overdose. In a large-scale population study of cannabis use and mortality published in the American Journal of Public Health, cannabis use, even long-term, showed no causal effect on mortality.

Yet both alcohol and tobacco are legal for adults to purchase and use, so long as they use them responsibly.

Each year in this country we arrest more and more of our citizens on cannabis charges. In 2006, the last year for which the data is available, we arrested 830,000 Americans on cannabis charges, and 88% of those arrests were for personal possession and use, not trafficking. They were otherwise law-abiding citizens who consume cannabis.

Since 1965, a total of nearly 20 million Americans â?? predominantly young people under the age of 30 â?? have been arrested on cannabis charges; more than 11 million cannabis arrests just since 1990. Thousands have been disenfranchised, tens of thousands have been unnecessarily sent to â??drug treatment,â?� hundreds of thousands have lost their eligibility for student aid, and perhaps an entire generation (or two) has been alienated to believe that the police are an instrument of their oppression rather than their protection.

Currently 47% of all drug arrests in the country are for cannabis, and another cannabis consumer is arrested every 38 seconds. Police arrest more people on cannabis charges each year than the total number of arrestees for all violent crimes combined, including murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault.

Of course, not everyone busted for possessing small amounts of pot receives jail time â?? most do not. But that doesnâ??t mean that they donâ??t suffer significant hardships stemming from their arrest. Seldom emphasized penalties associated with a minor cannabis conviction include probation and mandatory drug testing, loss of employment, loss of child custody, removal from subsidized housing, asset forfeiture, loss of federal student aid, loss of voting privileges, loss of adoption rights, and the loss of certain federal welfare benefits such as food stamps. In many states, convicted cannabis offenders are automatically stripped of their driving privileges, even if the offense is not driving related. Thousands of Americans suffer such sanctions every day.

Numerous state and federally commissioned reports, including the 1972 report of the National Commission on Marijuana and Drug entitled Marihuana, A Signal of Misunderstanding Abuse (aka the Shafer Commission), have concluded that the laws against marijuana cause far more harm than the use of the drug itself, and have recommended that we decriminalize marijuana and stop arresting responsible smokers. Twelve states in America have adopted decriminalization as their marijuana policy (Alaska; Colorado; Maine; Minnesota; Mississippi; North Carolina; Nebraska; Nevada; New York; Ohio; and Oregon; and Massachusetts is expected to approve marijuana decriminalization this fall via a voter initiative.)

These states that have decriminalized minor marijuana offenses have experienced no increase in usage rates. The only U.S. government study ever commissioned to assess whether the enforcement of strict legal penalties positively impacts marijuana use found, â??Overall, the preponderance of the evidence which we have gathered and examined points to the conclusion that decriminalization has had virtually no effect either on the marijuana use or on related attitudes and beliefs about marijuana use among American young people.â?�

The â??big lieâ?� underlying the governmentâ??s war on cannabis consumers is the premise that all marijuana use is abuse, and therefore must be criminalized. In fact, the vast majority of cannabis consumers are adults who cause no harm to themselves or to anyone else, so there is no reason for the state to be involved.

With alcohol we acknowledge the distinction between use and abuse, and we focus our law enforcement involvement on efforts to stop irresponsible use. We do not arrest or jail responsible alcohol drinkers. That should be our policy with marijuana as well.

The criminal prohibition of cannabis is a failed and costly public policy that must be ended. It is an enormous waste of law enforcement resources that should be focused on violent and genuinely serious crime.

Americaâ??s public policies should reflect this reality, not deny it. It makes no sense to continue to treat nearly half of all Americans as criminals.


Permalink | Comment on this story (266 posted)

The Hill Blog» Blog Archive » Criminalization of Marijuana Must End

By National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws Executive Director Allen St. Pierre

That is an awesome write-up. Do they post who the author is? I couldn't see it anywhere. It's just short enough for someone, who would normally push off such info, to have a quick read and get taken to school :hippy: It really feels like things are in motion. I think the idea of "decriminalization" is what should eventually be embraced. While we all know the many medical benefits it can have on people... we also know that even perfectly healthy people can improve their quality of life by responsibly consuming Cannabis. This article really speaks up for those "non-med" patients that don't want to use alcohol or tobacco... but don't have a doctor recommending them to :jointsmile: Although, even the argument that a person doesn't want to take aspirin is justification for a medical marijuana use... so we're all really "medical" :hippy:

It is very difficult for a :rasta: to step up to the plate when it comes to aggressively protesting for law reform. Most, myself included, have a distrust of law enforcement and government and would rather just keep up our routine that works. Sometimes limiting social contacts or avoiding public engagements.... essentially hiding. Obviously, with age... you get really tired of feeling like a criminal. It's disgusting...

On a positive note, things are looking really green in the cab... so hopefully I won't need to spend so much time in the grow forum. Maybe make a post or two in this one :jointsmile:

Hi metal1 yes unfortunately most cannabis users are just like you and hide in the closet and won't come forward and fight for the right to have it legally,
this is why it has been mission impossible to change the laws,not enough voices speaking out too congress, I wonder what percentage of congress are closet users of cannabis ?60%? . It looks as if Allen St. Pierre wrote the article heres the original link here:
The Hill Blog» Blog Archive » Criminalization of Marijuana Must End
we've got too stand up and voice our opinions to congress ;)

I have a bit more information on this if anyone is interested. Here's another entry on The Hill from NORML and it was written in response to the ONDCP's response to the first Hill post that Veggii has brought to our attention. I love NORML!!:thumbsup:

For more information here's a couple more links about this informal "debate".

ONDCP response to NORML's Hill post

Original article on NORML's site about the original Hill post.

Second rebuttal article on NORML about ONDCP's response to the original Hill post.

I write my elected officials monthly and anytime a Cannabis bill is introduced. I'm sure there's a thread on here somewhere with the responses received (if any) from elected officials. I have yet to receive a response from any official other than my senators and they've only responded (to say thanks for my input but they've made up their minds and they don't agree) when contacted about specific legislation. I've tried voting them out but it hasn't worked yet. Oh well maybe next term :rolleyes:.... we'll see.

Blessed be~

Quote:

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Originally Posted by veggii

Hi metal1 yes unfortunately most cannabis users are just like you and hide in the closet and won't come forward and fight for the right to have it legally,
this is why it has been mission impossible to change the laws,not enough voices speaking out too congress, I wonder what percentage of congress are closet users of cannabis ?60%? . It looks as if Allen St. Pierre wrote the article heres the original link here:
The Hill Blog» Blog Archive » Criminalization of Marijuana Must End
we've got too stand up and voice our opinions to congress ;)

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u know one thing that i enjoy these days that i dont smoke, i can talk as freely as i want about this in class or wherever, cuz im all clean not even afraid of a midnight swat but... let them come in and go empty handed! :D

I think if we had more non-smoker marijuana advocates, things would work much better, because when u r a smoker u r technically a law breaker and people look down upon you so does the government.