Posted on 02/20/2002 6:08:45 AM PST by Magician
My first reaction is WHY NOT?
It’s a question of common sense.
Our marijuana laws do not work. They never have, and they never will.
Their stated goal being to rid society of the so-called affliction of marijuana use, the harsh reality is that since prohibition, usage rates have increased drastically.
Either we legalize it, and fast, or we get busy locking up millions of Canadians. With one out of three Canadians admitting to having tried marijuana, we may very well be locking up our best and brightest, not ruined by drugs, but ruined by the criminal sanctions that go with getting caught for what amounts to a common social practice. I can’t even begin to count how many elected officials admitted to having used it, yet everyday hundreds of average citizens are arrested for marijuana offences.
So, why are there so many users, and why is marijuana so easy to acquire?
In a strange twist, prohibition is to blame.
When a product is illegal, the profit margin skyrockets. Prohibition turns an agricultural product (a plant that’s very easy to grow) into a drug worth its weight in gold. Without prohibition, marijuana would cost pennies to produce. No wonder some adventurous modern day prospectors are setting up in their own back yards and basements to try and get in on the gold rush. Who could blame them? They aren’t hurting anyone, they’re making good money, and most of all customers are willing, grateful participants in the process.
We must come to grips with the fact that the demand for marijuana is never going away and find a better way of dealing with it. Imagine the billions of dollars spent on marijuana and enforcement going to more noble causes like health care and other social programs.
The general public understands this. Support for legalizing marijuana recently reached the much sought after 50%+1 majority. Recent polls show that 51% of Canadians support legalizing marijuana, a slim, but very real majority.
And with more and more advocates, the trend is just taking off. Several European countries like Belgium, Switzerland, Holland and Germany are successfully leading the way towards tolerance with legislation aimed at helping drugs users, not by treating them as criminals, but as human beings deserving of respect. There is no reason why Canada should lag behind. We should be on the cutting edge of this new international movement.
Now it is time to step onto the world stage and assert our sovereignty by legalizing marijuana once and for all. I would venture a friendly wager that the international community would stand by Canada on this issue. Our inevitable success would then make us a world leader in marijuana reform—an example for others to follow.
(I can hear it already): But marijuana is dangerous!
For the record, marijuana is NOT dangerous. It is no worse than coffee and much safer than alcohol. Marijuana is also much less addictive then cigarettes. Chronic use is rare as the majority do not smoke it everyday. Try that with tobacco!
What little risks that may be present with marijuana are no worse then any other risks deemed "morally acceptable". Should we ban music because, if played too loud it might hurt your hearing?
French fries and gravy are far more dangerous for our health then marijuana. Should we ban fast food and send overeaters to mandatory fitness camps?
Who are we, as a society to judge? What exactly are marijuana users guilty of? Who are they hurting? What have they done wrong?
To deny marijuana users the right to choose what they want to consume is nothing more than an arbitrary decision based on moral values, not public interest......
Legalization does not mean promoting use. It means providing medical care, support, education, quality standards and proper labeling. We then trust that responsible adults will make their own choices. This is what makes legalization healthy for our society. At least legalization would force retailers to be accountable for what they sell.
Under prohibition, the government has waived its responsibility for the well being of marijuana users, and is only responsible for their arrest and persecution.
This total disregard for their rights drives a wedge between them and the rest of society and breeds contempt for our legal institutions. If society does not tolerate pot smokers, how are pot smokers supposed to tolerate society? This does not make for a healthy social climate and even less a basis for sound policy.
If a policy so deeply flawed as prohibition not only fails to reach its goals, but actually makes the situation worse, it should be radically changed.
Prohibition is the problem, and legalization the solution.
In places where marijuana is tolerated use actually decreases.
Of course, don’t count on the politicians to have the courage to change the law—it’s not in their nature. Look instead to the Supreme Court. That is where most significant legal change comes from anyway. Gay rights and abortion issues were resolved there, and, some time this year our land’s highest court will also rule on the constitutionality of marijuana prohibition. I strongly urge government to make a wise decision and end this madness now. Millions of bright, productive, patriotic pot-smoking Canadians are counting on it.
Most sincerely, Marc-Boris St-Maurice Le Parti Marijuana
Do you feel that your former drug use has impaired your present capabilities in any way?
No because I got out in time. You see all these pro-pot messages on FR, but like it or not marijuana is a major component of the drug culture.
To not accept that fact is putting your head in the sand.
Because they advocate ruining the country and they are hypocrites.
Would this be true if you had to purchase your alcohol in a gallon jug from a guy selling it out of his car ?
Legalization would have the added benefit of allowing the consumer to know how much thc is in the mj.
So is alcohol, so is nicotine - hell if you count the "mornings after" so is caffiene.
Under what logic is MJ a crime and Jim Beam not?
I have a high-paying job in Aerospace, am raising two beautiful children, am debt free and own my own company -- yet, I smoke every day. :)
It will be legalized eventually. And I will be one of the 'deadheads' ensuring it does.
Fregards, MM
Uh nope, sorry. You can spew your vitriol all you want, but we are dealing with the present and not the past. Just because I was a former drug user does not make me a hypocrite.
But...but....but...How were you able to do this? You mean you were still able to act rationally and use good judgement even after having indulged in the evil weed?? That is not possible I tell you. The first toke sucks everyone hopelessly into a life of deranged apathy and despair with no escape. Everyone knows that.
The fact that you are a criminal and haven't served time for it and yet still advocate prison for others who are exactly like you in every way except one, that is, you weren't caught and refuse to turn yourself in. The fact that still think this is OK proves that drug use has addled your brain.
For shame. That's not a nice thing to say about Dan Quayle Newt Gingrich and Clarence Thomas (or Al Gore or Slick Willie.....or Louis Armstrong, Carl Sagan, Steve Jobs, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar,.......)
If you are not willing to serve the time for the crime you deem it to be - but would force on others, then you are very much a hypocrite.
And if you can't see that - an idiotic hypocrite.
Sure it does, and you are a liar for calling others drug users when you know nothing about them. And now you are claiming that past drug use is OK, but not present drug use. That present drug users should go to prison while you not only stay free but go around calling them names. You are worse than a hypocrite, you are an evil person. A liar and a coward.
LOL! You are superior aren't you? Sure act like it.
Anyway marijuana is a major component of the drug culture. It is the first step to other drugs and is not benign as stated by this article, IMHO.
Let me ask you a question. If marijuana is not the first step to other drugs, why does the quintessential "marijuana' magazine, High Times, have articles and prices for other drugs such as cocaine, LSD, and psychedelic mushrooms.
Sheesh when I was growing up you could buy High Times at any record store.
Bullshit. Cigarettes and Booze are more likely "Gateway" drugs. Your arguments are so weak as to be almost laughable - are you sure you're not really that astrologically impaired Nancy Reagan?
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