NO LOGICAL REASON TO PUNISH ADULTS FOR USING MARIJUANA OVER ALCOHOL

I read this article, and I very strongly agree with it, just thought I'd share it.


http://www.mapinc.org/newsnorml/v06/n1416/a06.html

That's a preview of the strongest argument opponents of Amendment 44 - - the Alcohol-Marijuana Equalization Initiative - will put forth in the last two weeks of the campaign.

Don't expect an open and honest discussion about the merits of making marijuana possession legal for adults. Instead, expect every possible scare tactic related to children you can imagine. Before our opponents are done, you will think we are trying to make marijuana part of the free lunch program at elementary schools.

And why are our opponents hiding behind children? Perhaps it is because there is no logical reason to punish adults for making the rational choice to use marijuana instead of alcohol. Here are just a few reasons why:

. Alcohol is deadly; marijuana is not. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 20,000 Americans die every year as the direct result of alcohol consumption. The number for marijuana is zero. In addition, alcohol overdose deaths are not just possible, but an all-too-frequent occurrence in Colorado, as the on-campus deaths of students like Samantha Spady and Gordy Bailey have made tragically clear. Marijuana, on the other hand, has never caused an overdose death.

. Alcohol increases the likelihood of violent behavior; marijuana does not. This is not a surprising statement to individuals who have been around users of each substance. But it is also backed up with statistics. For example, the U.S. Department of Justice has reported the following about crime in the United States: "Two-thirds of victims who suffered violence by an intimate ( a current or former spouse, boyfriend or girlfriend ) reported that alcohol had been a factor. Among spouse victims, three out of four incidents were reported to have involved an offender who had been drinking." Every objective study has concluded that marijuana use does not contribute to violent or aggressive behavior.

. Alcohol is especially problematic on college campuses. Drinking by college students, ages 18 to 24, contributes to an estimated 1,400 student deaths, 500,000 injuries and 70,000 cases of sexual assaults or date rapes each year, according to a 2002 study commissioned by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism Task Force on College Drinking.

While these numbers are staggering, some statistics are even more powerful when conveyed as percentages.

For example, researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health College found that nearly three-quarters ( 72 percent ) of all college female rape victims experienced rape while under the influence of alcohol.

Our opponents, including the top elected officials in the state, will completely ignore these facts and recklessly defend a system designed to punish people for using marijuana, which only pushes more people toward alcohol.

To justify this irrational policy, our opponents will claim they are protecting our kids. In doing so, however, they ignore even more statistics.

Marijuana is already "universally available" to teens. Our opponents make it seem as if marijuana prohibition is needed to keep marijuana away from kids. Yet today, 86 percent of high school seniors say it is "very easy" or "fairly easy" to get marijuana. Moreover, the authors of the Monitoring the Future report on teen substance use reported, "Marijuana has been almost universally available to American high school seniors over at least the past 30 years."

Anti-marijuana propaganda is pushing kids toward a more dangerous drug. As a result of anti-marijuana propaganda, 12- to 17-year-old Americans believe smoking marijuana once or twice a week is more dangerous than having five or more drinks at a time once or twice a week, according to a federal government survey. Yet binge drinking can kill these kids in one night; marijuana cannot.

For better or worse, alcohol and marijuana are a permanent part of our society. Young people determined to use alcohol will probably find alcohol, and those determined to use marijuana will probably find marijuana. Nevertheless, reducing teen use of either substance requires honest and open conversations with our kids.

Pushing adults ( with our laws ) and kids ( with misinformation ) toward alcohol instead of marijuana is not a solution to the problem. Rather, it is making societal problems worse.

Don't let our opponents scare you into maintaining the current, failed system. Help reduce alcohol-related harms and make Colorado safer by voting yes on Amendment 44.

I've never understood the prohibitionist's argument that these amendments send the "wrong message" to children. First of all, when has this ever been used as a standard for acceptable adult behavior? Should adults no longer have sex because we don't want teenagers having sex? Should adults only partake in activities deemed appropriate for kids just so that kids aren't tempted to behave like adults?? This argument makes absolutely no sense.

Second of all, it is my experience that teenagers don't really give a shit about the messages they are getting from adults. Adults constantly send the "right" messages to kids regarding everything from eating vegetables to doing well in school, and most of them don't really listen. Most of them, in an effort to be individuals and grow into adults do just about whatever they want, regardless of messages from adults. Kids care even less about messages the government sends them.

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Originally Posted by Nausicaa

I've never understood the prohibitionist's argument that these amendments send the "wrong message" to children. First of all, when has this ever been used as a standard for acceptable adult behavior? Should adults no longer have sex because we don't want teenagers having sex? Should adults only partake in activities deemed appropriate for kids just so that kids aren't tempted to behave like adults?? This argument makes absolutely no sense.

Second of all, it is my experience that teenagers don't really give a shit about the messages they are getting from adults. Adults constantly send the "right" messages to kids regarding everything from eating vegetables to doing well in school, and most of them don't really listen. Most of them, in an effort to be individuals and grow into adults do just about whatever they want, regardless of messages from adults. Kids care even less about messages the government sends them.

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That wasn't exactly what I was anticipating someone to interpret this to be about..as it's main point is that society doesn't consider alcohol a harmful thing and marijuana is only recognized as a 'scourge.' Marijuana is obviously safer, and not a risk to your health, and should be recognized as a safer alternative over alcohol for those who wish to use it..But I know many kids my age who believe smoking to be bad as it 'makes you stupid' and could kill you. So they drink instead. There's no more than ten or fifteen kids in my school who smoke, as everyone else either doesn't want to or are afraid to.

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Originally Posted by Markass

That wasn't exactly what I was anticipating someone to interpret this to be about..as it's main point is that society doesn't consider alcohol a harmful thing and marijuana is only recognized as a 'scourge.' Marijuana is obviously safer, and not a risk to your health, and should be recognized as a safer alternative over alcohol for those who wish to use it..But I know many kids my age who believe smoking to be bad as it 'makes you stupid' and could kill you. So they drink instead. There's no more than ten or fifteen kids in my school who smoke, as everyone else either doesn't want to or are afraid to.

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damn dude theres probably like 1,500 kids at my school and i would guess 500 get high at least once a week. but i guess a lot of them drink and get wasted every weekend too. no point just saying. :dance:

But it needs to be recognized as an alternative to alcohol for those who do not wish to consume it..not a dangerous drug..

I agree completly with u ive seen people get drunk before and get agressive or be someone comepletly different and mean to the poeple they care about. its stupid that they think drinking is actually safer than pot. i never drink because it makes me a very violent person, but when i smoke some how it makes things better and makes me happy. i dont see why people choose to drink over smoke. to me its rediculess.

Markass, where do you live?

Location effects marijuana use a lot. I live in NYC, with a population of over 8 million people in a densely populated area. EVERYONE smokes, and smoking marijuana is completely acceptable and generally regarded as a normal activity around here. It is rare to find a person who has never smoked before, and even they generally understand that marijuana is generally harmless, and just prefer not to. Throughout high school, weed is no more than a phone call away from any of the many numbers stored in your cell phone. Any quantity, any quality.

Marijuana is readily available in any populated area, and the more populated the area, the more weed all over and the more people smoking. The less populated the area, the less weed and the less people smoking. Of course, the more people that do it the more accepted it becomes and if nobody does it its not accepted. So location and populations have everything to do with differences in outlooks, availability, popularity, etc.. of the herb.

I live in a small town in oklahoma of about 3,500 people..We have drug testing at our school for individuals in extra-curricular activities, and most kids in activities drink and don't smoke..(if they do anything)...and they believe marijuana to be bad..but you bring up a good point in your second paragraph. It's still illegal..why?

People don't know as much about it as they could. Even information about no link to lung cancer is all still fairly new. Most adults today have no knowledge of it outside the negative aspects that surrounded it through history. But its still illegal because the majority of the world wants it that way. Eventually, since marijuana is increasingly popular among teens these days, it will be more accepted by the time this generation rolls into office and makes some changes. But I often wonder how much taking away its illegal status would decrease its appeal. Its hard to tell whether use would soar or diminish.

If this was about the children, the same people trying to keep marijuana illegal should be trying to make tobacco and alcohol illegal. Oh wait, that didn't work.

Maybe parents should stop having sex too, because that might send the wrong message to kids. Maybe doctors should stop operating on patients, because it might teach kids that "operating on people is ok". Maybe we should have everyone stop driving cars, because kids will just imitate that as well.

"For the Kids" is a ridiculous argument, that's why we have certain laws preventing kids from doing certain things in the first place. If all laws prevented adults from doing things that children shouldn't be doing:

#1 - We wouldn't be here
#2 - Age specific laws wouldn't be in place, as anything that would be illegal for a kid would also be illegal for an adult

But guess what, we do have age specific laws, so why can't we use them in a case where it makes sense, like marijuana reform?