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De-fang marijuana
Arizona Star ^ | 31 July 02 | Rich Lowry

Posted on 08/02/2002 1:38:04 PM PDT by bat-boy

So thoroughgoing is the unofficial ban on debate of the nation's drug laws that American politicians prefer smoking pot to talking about it.

They typically try marijuana as teen-agers or young adults, suffer no consequences, then go on to maintain as elected officials that anyone with the temerity to do what they did should be arrested and maybe even jailed.

Once and probably future presidential candidate Al Gore, for instance, spent much of his post-adolescence smoking dope and skipping through fields of clover, according to biographer Bill Turque.

He somehow still managed to become one of the most notoriously uptight and ambitious politicians in the country. But Gore, like nearly everyone else, thinks smoking pot should be a criminal offense.

Not everywhere in the world is there such conformity on drug issues. Much of Europe is reconsidering its drug laws - in Britain, the Labor Party recently proposed downgrading the possession of marijuana to a wrist-slapping offense. Meanwhile, in the United States "the war on drugs" grinds pointlessly on.

At least there is some fresh air in the media. John Stossel took an ax to drug-war clichés in a special report on ABC this week.

Drug Enforcement Agency Director Asa Hutchinson had to insist wanly on air that, despite all the billions of dollars spent and countless thousands arrested, the war just hadn't yet been fought hard enough.

He sounded like one of those diehards who argued during the Cold War that socialism hadn't failed, it just had never been truly tried.

When it comes to marijuana, it's unclear why anyone would try to stamp out its use in the first place.

Alcohol and tobacco kill hundreds of thousands of people a year. In contrast, there is no such thing as a lethal overdose of marijuana.

Yet federal law makes possessing a single joint punishable by up to a year in prison, and many states have similar penalties. There are about 700,000 marijuana arrests in the United States every year, roughly 80 percent for possession.

For the vast majority of its users, marijuana is nearly harmless and represents a temporary enthusiasm.

Most marijuana users are between the ages of 18 and 25, and use plummets after age 34, by which time children and mortgages blunt the appeal of rolling papers and bongs.

Since drug warriors have a hard time arguing that marijuana itself is dangerous, they instead rely on a bank shot: Marijuana's danger is that it leads to the use of drugs that are actually dangerous - it is a so-called "gateway drug."

Not so. According to a report by the Institute of Medicine, "Of 34- to 35-year-old men who had used marijuana 10-99 times by the age 24 to 25, 75 percent never used any other illicit drug."

And users simply don't get addicted to marijuana the way they do harder drugs. One key indicator of the addictiveness of other drugs is that lab rats will self-administer them. Rats won't self-administer THC, the active ingredient in marijuana.

Two researchers in 1991 studied the addictiveness of caffeine, nicotine, alcohol, heroin, cocaine and marijuana. Both ranked caffeine and marijuana as the least addictive.

Despite the heated rhetoric of the drug war, on marijuana there is a de facto consensus: Legalizers think marijuana laws shouldn't be on the books; prohibitionists think, in effect, that they shouldn't be enforced.

A compromise would be a version of the Dutch model of decriminalization, removing criminal penalties for personal use of marijuana, but keeping the prohibition on street-trafficking and mass cultivation.

That, of course, would require that politicians apply some of the energy they once devoted to enjoying marijuana to discussing forthrightly its legal status. But they prefer to smoke, then keep forever mum.

* Rich Lowry is editor of the National Review, 215 Lexington Ave., New York, NY 10016; e-mail: comments.lowry@ nationalreview.com.


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Editorial; Extended News; Foreign Affairs; Government; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events; Philosophy; US: Arizona
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To: A CA Guy
Yes the Spirit of the Founding Fathers wasn't to be good citizens that would be church goers, but rather those who have the right to do all the drugs they choose!

Our first President grew hemp. Can you grown hemp without being put in jail? Nope. Because you might "get a buzz" from the plant. Gimme a break.

I don't buy that idea or any that involves legalizing any more vices in the name of some tilted perception of freedom.

Uh... Marijuana was not made illegal until the early 1900's... Do some research.

21 posted on 08/02/2002 2:16:58 PM PDT by SunStar
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To: A CA Guy
I don't buy that idea or any that involves legalizing any more vices in the name of some tilted perception of freedom.

"There are 100,000 total marijuana smokers in the US, and most are Negroes, Hispanics, Filipinos and entertainers. Their Satanic music, jazz and swing, result from marijuana usage. This marijuana causes white women to seek sexual relations with Negroes, entertainers and any others."

Harry J. Anslinger, testimony to Congress, 1937

Yup, gotta avoid those tilted perceptions.

22 posted on 08/02/2002 2:17:14 PM PDT by tacticalogic
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To: A CA Guy
If I recall correctly, your stated position is that the Federal government can bypass the Amendment process and make laws in areas not delegated to it by the Constitution.

I can't remember your exact quote, but it was something to the effect that we would have to have thousands of amendments, which is not practical.

If I have misrepresented your position, I will retract my statement, but I think I have it pretty close.

If that is your position, then you have no credibility to talk about the Founding Fathers, in my opinion.

23 posted on 08/02/2002 2:17:26 PM PDT by Ken H
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To: A CA Guy
"I see a pattern!"

That's probably a mere hallucination induced by excess Koolaid consumption.

Spark a doob and chill, man. ;^)
24 posted on 08/02/2002 2:17:27 PM PDT by headsonpikes
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Comment #25 Removed by Moderator

To: bat-boy
I submit that one of the primary reasons the Government doesn't legalize the personal use of marijuana is MONEY.

Cigarette taxes are a significant source of taxe revenue in this Country, but while growing and processing tobacco is possible, but not worth the hassle to most people (much like home-brewing beer vs. buying a six-pack), anyone who grew up in the sixties and leafed through a copy of High Times magazine knows just how easy it is to grow your own dope: Break off a branch, let it dry out, crumble the leaves into your pipe or rolling machine, and Bob's your uncle!

I suppose I took a hit or two of marijuana 30 years ago for its novelty value. If it were to be legalized tomorrow, I wouldn't use it, not because I think it's evil, but because I don't enjoy smoking anything.

I say legalize the personal use of marijuana and focus law enforcement efforts on the violent (and Corporate - musn't forget them) criminals that are real threats to the Society at large. Free up some prison space for the people that really should be there!
26 posted on 08/02/2002 2:17:43 PM PDT by Marksam
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To: Bill D. Berger
Here here!!!

It's a shame that only a handful of Democrats and Republicans are on the correct side of this issue.

27 posted on 08/02/2002 2:18:22 PM PDT by SunStar
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To: FryingPan101
The nation's supply burned in the Oregon forest fires.

Thank God for our friends in the north, Vancouver Island Hydro. Blame Canada!

28 posted on 08/02/2002 2:19:13 PM PDT by TightSqueeze
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To: A CA Guy
Therefore all structures with concrete must be taken down since they must be against the Constitution by your way of thinking.

You've got it backwards. Concrete is not ILLEGAL in the Constitution, therefore it should fall under "liberty and the pursuit of happiness", just like possessing plants that were put here by God, whether they be flowers or marijuana.

29 posted on 08/02/2002 2:20:52 PM PDT by SunStar
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To: bat-boy
yeah right!....and heroin addicts don't do armed robbery to to support their habit, they are just short of rent money at the end of the month.
30 posted on 08/02/2002 2:20:54 PM PDT by Minutemen
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To: TightSqueeze
B.C.Hydro--it's not just a power company, anymore!
31 posted on 08/02/2002 2:21:41 PM PDT by headsonpikes
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To: SunStar
Which is why breaking this particular law is not immoral.

When you finally resign yourself to the fact that you are an outlaw, all the guilt goes away anyway.

32 posted on 08/02/2002 2:21:52 PM PDT by TightSqueeze
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To: Lowelljr
Your reply is a pure straw man. An article suggests legalizing marijuana and you quickly leap to the conclusion that once marijuana is legalized, pederasts, prostitutes, and heroin addicts will roam our streets, invade our homes, and decamp in our statehouses.

See my #19 above. Vice laws breed lawlessness.

33 posted on 08/02/2002 2:22:53 PM PDT by SteamshipTime
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To: tacticalogic
Nice find!
34 posted on 08/02/2002 2:22:54 PM PDT by SunStar
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To: Marksam
I wouldn't use it, not because I think it's evil, but because I don't enjoy smoking anything.

One word… Brownies!

35 posted on 08/02/2002 2:23:46 PM PDT by TightSqueeze
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To: SteamshipTime
Your reply is a pure straw man.

Do you need the link to the LP party platform. Ask and I will link it for you.

36 posted on 08/02/2002 2:24:58 PM PDT by LowOiL
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To: Minutemen
yeah right!....and heroin addicts don't do armed robbery to to support their habit, they are just short of rent money at the end of the month.

Does heroin grow naturally?

37 posted on 08/02/2002 2:25:30 PM PDT by SunStar
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Comment #38 Removed by Moderator

To: TightSqueeze
When you finally resign yourself to the fact that you are an outlaw, all the guilt goes away anyway.

I'm not an outlaw. I just do not accept a man-made law against possessing a god-given, natural plant of ANY kind. Man-made drugs, on the other hand, should remain illegal. There should be a distinction between the two.

39 posted on 08/02/2002 2:27:25 PM PDT by SunStar
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To: Bill D. Berger
Which is worse....anarchy or slavery?

Anarchy and Stupidity is where your headed. If you think this is slavery, move to another country.

40 posted on 08/02/2002 2:28:32 PM PDT by LowOiL
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