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
LOL! That's like saying that Hitler isn't particulary relevant to World War II.
Rudolph Guiliani picked up small time drug dealers on the street and the crime rate in New York plummeted.
And, by definition so is the CIA. Leary (and his sidekick Richard Alpert) was on the CIA's pad for nearly his entire career, and a lifelong pal of one powerful CIA officer, the late Cord Meyer, whose specialty was infiltrating various political groups to discredit them. Leary in fact came up with the personality test used by the Agency ("the Leary") to screen prospective employees.
I know it's a waste of time to debate you (if you call your tiredly shrill antinomies "debate") but here is a good article with a bibliography that discusses Leary and the US government's extensive involvement with promoting and testing psychoactive drugs.
The reason crime rates skyrocketed at the time is because the demographically large Boomer birth cohort had just entered what is known as the "prime crime-committing" age group of 18-26 years.
And Osama bin Laden never personally drove airplanes into buildings, either.
Nah, you were never a libertarian. But you were probably an anarchist, or at least just a swine who wanted to do anything he wanted and screw the world.
And for sure you never grew up. Grownups take responsibility for their actions. Until you report to prison to start your twenty five year sentence for drug dealing you haven't taken responsibility for anything.
Hey CJ, ever use an illegal substance? C'mon tell the truth, you don't want to have to look a liar in the mirror tomorrow do you?
Then how come crime rates in the 50's were among the lowest of the century when marijuana, cociane, and heroin were all ilegal?
How come the crime rates started to skyrocket when drugs such as marijuana, cocaine, and heroin started to find their way into the American culture in the mid-60's?
Because marijuana is the only relief I have from the bugs that constantly are crawling all over my skin.
And the only way to silence the voices that constantly drone "Strangle your mother. Strangle your mother. Strangle your mother. Strangle your mother."
He missed a few, but then you don't live in NYC do you?
Ideologues are ever the busy-bodies, always sticking their noses into other people's business.
There you go. You just stated, plain as day, that you beleive the Constitution is a 'living document". A very liberal position.
Thank you for keeping the argument simple. This issue is about liberty. All other, more complex arguments, are moot.
Why, in your opinion, do I not have the right to grow a particular plant in my own backyard? And why do I not have the right to sell my plant??
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