Posted on 05/10/2005 2:33:54 PM PDT by bassmaner
As the nation's "drug czar," John Walters is supposed to be saving us from the ravages of hard drugs like heroin and cocaine. At least that was the original sales pitch for the "war on drugs" in the 1980s. But the war has evolved into largely a fight against marijuana, which no one has ever claimed is a hard drug. Walters is nonetheless committed, Ahab-like, to arresting every marijuana smoker in the country whom law enforcement can lay its hands on.
It used to be that drug warriors denied that marijuana was much of a focus for them, because they understandably liked people to think they were cracking down on genuinely dangerous, highly addictive drugs. No more. We are waging a war on pot, a substance less addictive and harmful than tobacco and alcohol, which presumably friends of Walters enjoy all the time with no fear of being forced to make a court appearance.
According to a new report by the Sentencing Project, in a trend Walters heartily supports, annual drug arrests increased by 450,000 from 1990 to 2002. Marijuana arrests accounted for 82 percent of the growth, and 79 percent of that was for marijuana possession alone. Marijuana arrests are now nearly half of all the 1.5 million annual drug arrests. Marijuana-trafficking arrests actually declined as a proportion of all drug arrests during this period, while the proportion of possession arrests increased by two-thirds.
Has the use of other drugs declined, prompting the focus on marijuana? No. According to the Sentencing Project: "There is no indication from national drug-survey data that a dramatic decrease in the use of other drugs led to law-enforcement agencies shifting resources to marijuana. Indeed, there was a slight increase in the use of all illicit drugs by adult users between 1992 and 2001. Over that same period, emergency-room admissions for heroin continued to increase." Drug warriors simply think it's a good thing in and of itself to arrest marijuana smokers.
Their crusade bears little or no connection to law enforcement. Crime generally has been declining from 1990 to 2002, even as pot arrests have increased. Are we to believe that crime is at its lowest rates in 30 years, but the nation is beset by rampaging marijuana smokers who are kept under minimal control only by ever-increasing arrests? Every major county in the country, except Fairfax, Va., saw an increase in marijuana arrests during the past 12 years. That Washington, D.C., suburb has not been notably overrun by hemp-crazed hordes.
The fight against marijuana isn't even working on its own terms. According to the Sentencing Project, since 1992, the price of marijuana has fallen steadily, declining by 16 percent. In 1990, 84.4 percent of high-school seniors said it was easy to get marijuana. In 2002, 87.2 percent said it was easy. Daily use by high-school seniors tripled from 1990 to 2002, going from 2.2 percent to 6 percent — the same level as in 1975.
As Allen F. St. Pierre, executive director of the pro-decriminalization group NORML, puts it, "Increased arrest rates are not associated with reduced marijuana use, reduced marijuana availability, a reduction in the number of new users, reduced treatment admissions, reduced emergency-room mentions, any reduction in marijuana potency, or any increases in the price of marijuana." Besides that, the war on marijuana is a smash success.
Marijuana is not harmless, and its use should be discouraged, but in the same way, say, smoking a pack of cigarettes a day should be discouraged. The criminal-justice system should stay out of it. Twelve states have decriminalized marijuana to varying degrees, fining instead of arresting people for possessing small amounts. They recognize that — as the authors of a new study for the conservative American Enterprise Institute argue — "the case for imposing criminal sanctions for possession of small amounts of marijuana is weak."
John Walters, of course, will have a ready answer for the ineffectiveness of the war on marijuana. It's the answer drug warriors always have — even more arrests.
The War on Drugs (especially pot smokers) is a socialist, anti-freedom program. Live it, learn it, love it.
WOD ping
Give it up. It's a cultural issue, not a government issue. Since pot smokers are perceived to be liberals, they are fair game for the right. Rush can suck down cigars, pop pills, and get divorced 4 times and he's a pillar of the community, but smoke a bone with some friends and you deserve jail time. That's your culture war for you.
but pot smokers eat all the rice crispy treats and drive soooo fast
That's basically about it; deep down people don't want to give the people who they perceive smoke pot the satisfaction of legalization (long-haired hippies) rather than any really rational reason for not ending this part of the WOD.
They talk funny too man...
Unfortunately, when 700,000+ Americans are arrested annually for pot while illegal aliens continue to pour across the border and terror cells plot their next move, it most certainly is a government issue.
A government with a very poor sense of priorities, that is.
Same column, different title
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1400221/posts
"but pot smokers eat all the rice crispy treats and drive soooo fast"
Based upon the stoners I've known in years past, you're right on the money with the rice crispy treats, but drive fast? Nope, it's very, very careful, with the perfect tunes on, and dead on the speed limit. Too paranoid to go either too fast or too slow. Just don't let them get distracted (which happens very easily).
ditto
Certainly mis-ordered priorities, at the *very* least.
As far as I can tell, um, uh, hmm....what were we talking about?
Yep. Big business doesn't want it legalized either. The booze companies (and the tax man too) would lose out since you can grow killer weed in your backyard.
Sounds like we know the same people! One of my friends gets so paranoid you can't even talk to him.
I'd rather be in a car with a pot smoker than a person who is drunk. It's safer.
You would be paranoid too if you knew what you were doing could get you arrested.
Personally, I'd get out and walk.
I don't partake myself, preferring my cigarettes and my beer. I also do not drive when I have been drinking, a lesson I learned the hard way.
I have very little control over what my friends do, and that's the way it should be.
I prefer to take a cab, myself.
"Sounds like we know the same people! One of my friends gets so paranoid you can't even talk to him."
I hope you're not driving around with your buddies under the influence. I think it would be wise to advise your friend to sober up before driving.
i've always said that i would rather my 2 kids smoke a joint than take 1 drink of booze.
the penalty is not worth it. when they were babies i gave up my 7 year ounce a day habit and am now soooo much better off with my 25 year, pint a day fix.
either way i still get the munchies and gotta have my
slim jim, tabasco sauce loaded dorito fix.
any one got any fried food laying around?
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