OP/ED: Reefer Madness

Pot, grass, green goddess, dope, weed, gage, sess, sens, smoke, skunk, locoweed, Mary Jane are all terms for the same thing, Marijuana. The legalization is not only something Canadians have been striving for, for years. It is also a positive change for our government.


In the most recent Canadian national survey to assess marijuana use (1994), 23% of those surveyed report using the substance at least once in their lifetime and 7.4% had used it sometime in the previous 12 months. In 1970 only 1% reported use in the past 30 days.1 Marijuana users do not deserve to go to jail or lose their jobs for their choice of lifestyle. Is it not about time to legalize and tax marijuana and get the money out of the hands of drug dealers? Instead the government could be spending the money on after school programs, education, health care, and the war on terrorism and developing alternative energy? Is it not about time to realize that people who want to smoke marijuana will continue to do so even while it is illegal? We might as well legalize it and use the money law enforcement is wasting on the drug for drug prevention education for children instead?

Restrictions should not be placed on private and personal use of plants of any kind in any country which calls itself "free." Alcohol and Tobacco kill countless people each year, yet these products remain completely legal. Marijuana, according to the Surgeon General"s studies, has killed not one person. It should not only be legalized for medical use, but for recreational use as well. Also, it is a waste of our tax dollars to continue enforcing the "war on drugs." It is ineffective and completely useless. Hundreds of violent criminals are walking away while the government is thinking of ways to keep this harmless drug from the public.

"The importation and sale of marijuana is condemned and punished as a serious crime, but we accept as legitimate the manufacture and sale of an infinitely more addictive and deadly drug: the nicotine in cigarettes that cost the lives of 390,000 American citizens last year." - Jimmy Carter, 1990.

Why it is that smoking is legal, and drinking yourself to death is legal but a plant like marijuana is not? Enter the gateway discussion. Many people believe that marijuana is a gateway drug that will lead to many other drugs. What many do not understand is that users have a lot more common sense than most people think. People know the risks of taking drugs and they know the problems that they can get themselves into. Users know when to stop. Not everyone does other drugs. It is only a small amount of people that will experiment with other drugs, and even if they do experiment, that is all they are doing.

Tetrahydrocannabinol, which is the active ingredient in marijuana, is a very safe drug. Laboratory animals (rats, mice, dogs, monkeys) can tolerate doses of up to 1,000 mg/kg (milligrams per kilogram).4 This would be equivalent to a 70 kg person swallowing 70 grams of the drug -- about 5,000 times more than is required to produce a high.

Responsible individuals should be allowed to choose whether or not they use marijuana. We place a high value on the principles of individuality, liberty, and freedom of thought. If we are so free than why does the government have a problem with a plant? Marijuana, like tobacco, alcohol, and other drugs, can be abused. But the harms associated with marijuana are less than those associated with tobacco and alcohol, and they are not sufficient reason to justify making marijuana illegal. Education and regulation are better options than prohibition. Teach people what the boundaries are, and teach them how to use the drug safely. Alcohol prohibition did not work, and there is no logical reason to believe that marijuana prohibition is a better idea.

According to the UN"s estimate, 141 million people around the world use marijuana. This represents about 2.5 percent of the world population.3 Cannabis is the most commonly used drug in Canada. 23.1% of Canadians reported using cannabis in there lifetime, with 7.4% using on a past-year basis (1994 statistics). Legalize it, and tax it and keep the petty crooks out of jail. This would save time for the real criminals. Doing this would also keep other criminals out of jail because not as many people would be charges for break in and entries, or robberies. This is because the price of marijuana will be regulated by the government and the government will have complete control over it.

The government can limit how much you purchase. They can keep track of the amount of marijuana your purchase a year. If it is too high, they can limit you from buying anymore.

You could buy marijuana at the store like alcohol or tobacco, chose from 40 different brands, pay $5 for a one ounce pack of marijuana, and you would not mind paying some tax to pay for after school programs, education, health care, senior citizen care, the war on terrorism, developing alternative energy and cleaning up polluted rivers and lakes. It is for our own good. Countries such as Netherlands, Spain, and Italy have rules saying that marijuana use is legal, is it not about time for Canada to change theirs?

The following are excerpts of Mr. Anslinger"s testimony before a Senate hearing on marijuana in 1937:

"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 use. This marijuana causes white women to seek sexual relations with Negroes, entertainers, and any others."

"...the primary reason to outlaw marijuana is its effect on the degenerate races."

"Marijuana is an addictive drug which produces in its users insanity, criminality, and death."

"You smoke a joint and you"re likely to kill your brother."

"Marijuana is the most violence-causing drug in the history of mankind."

Seems to me people are still living in the 30"s...

1 www.cancer.ca...

2 United Nations Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention, Global Illicit Drug Trends 1999 (New York, NY: UNODCCP, 1999), p. 91.

3 www.mapleleafweb.com...

4 Iversen, Leslie L., PhD, FRS, "The Science of Marijuana" (London, England: Oxford University Press, 2000), p. 178

Originally posted by MacKiller
"Marijuana is the most violence-causing drug in the history of mankind."

Very nice piece Mac, persecuting those who wish to use a herb from the earth to relax/medicate/meditate is clearly wrong. The tax money spent on locking up stoners seems hardly worth it. It would make so much more sense to allow people to grow their own, or allow it to be taxed and branded, so that the criminal market is stopped. How many lives will save and how much crime will this stop? It just doesn't make sense.

Society creates the crime. . . .

"Marijuana is an addictive drug which produces in its users insanity, criminality, and death."

"You smoke a joint and you"re likely to kill your brother."

"Marijuana is the most violence-causing drug in the history of mankind."


This guy is a comedian!

Quality material, what a routine!!

My sides are splitting


This has to be a world record attempt at building the bigget pile of $#!+


Edit: Adding to post

I just want to say I am in the Netherlands partly beacuse of this ;p

The herb makes you passive not violent.. the UK should allow it in their pubs, it might make for less violence over the weekends.


It's indeed sad that some us still believe this is to be the truth.


[edit on 13/10/2004 by Corinthas]

Very True, something needs to be done to mellow out the crowds on fridays and sarterdays. At uni i went to parties where there were mostly stoners no trouble at all, then when i went parties whre everyone is pissed there was nearly always trouble of some description. Laws need to be looked at again, world is a different place from the 1930's

The only reason that Marijuana is a gateway drug is because you have to go to the gateway to get it. Whoever has Marijuana usually has Cocaine and whoever has coc aine usually has Xanax .. b/c you can't get all wired up and not have nothing to put you to sleep. These dope heads are stupid I am nto sure if legalization of Marijuana would be a good thing. The drug dealers wouldn't have jobs anymore. The DEA running Meth labs around the Country would shut down b/c the marijuana dealers are really the ones pushing it for them ... ONLY b/c of one of tow reasons .... THE MONEY !!! or they are feeding thier habit ...

The guy that said marijuana makes you want to kill your brother. IS OUTSIDE OF HIS HEAD. ALL I HAVE TO SAY IS .... CHILL ......................and smoke some pot .

Good Post MacKiller, I totally agree. Don't we have bigger fish to fry than potheads??? I live in Vancouver, BC the pot capitol of Canada. THe provincial government estimates that the BC bud industry generates around $6 BILLION/YEAR!!!! That's right $6 BILLION. Even at 15% tax that would give the province $900 million/year in revenue instead of spending $150 million/year to stop something they can't.

In my years of smoking I've never seen a pothead get violent and rape women and such, maybe rape the refrigerator but nothing more. IT's all propaganda used to yet again suppress our free thought.

Man brewed the beer , Mother Earth made the herb....Who do you trust

I think everyone could use a little mellowing out around here!!!

It's funny, I talked to a Canadian cop once, and he told me that there was no way in hell he would arrest a group of people smoking pot, when there was someone down the street getting shot. He said that most pot smokers are peaceful and keep to themselves. Those aren't the kind of people you have to worry about.

Wow, I wonder what the influx of people would be to move to Canada if weed was legalized there. I am an American and to be honest I would rather live amongst a bunch of Happy go Lucky stoners than in a world full of raging alcholoics.

just my thought

Well said Deeprivergal. That cop has the right attitude as police time and money could be invested in real crime, not a victimless choice of lifestyle. The crim surrounding drugs can only be stopped when they are not illegal anymore. Pot for sure, is not worth the time and tax money wasted on it.

But imagine how much it would help to legalize it, and tax it. I don't care what anyone says, pot is definately safer than alcohol, and its definately safer than cigarettes. Cigarettes cause cancer, and they are addicting, this is no documentation anywhere that I can find where it says that there are deadly illnesses, side effects, or addiction instances.

Inhaling smoke of any kind will damage your lungs, but that is the descision of the user. If people are allowed to inhale fumes from cigarettes which is far more deadly and toxic, then there is no reason why people should be stopped from smoking the herb.

Just think of all the violence and injury caused under the influence of alchohol, it's disgusting.

Pot is used for medicinal purposes as well. I don't recall any time where nicotine was used for that purpose.

If we are so free than why does the government have a problem with a plant?

It's widely understood that elements of the government in the U.S. profit from the drug trade. If there truly was a war on drugs, you'd expect to see some results. There have been no results. Drugs are more available now than before the "war" on drugs began. There is only one explanation. It's obvious to anyone who has grown past the conditioned attitude that government, like your parents, can do no wrong.

i heard cops talking on a radio show. MAN, you shoulkd hear the rhetoric they spew(just the spokescop of the official party line, ....not all cops think this way, i know for a fact).
they talked about gun battles over large warehouses and huge sums of money. when it is pointed out to them(by a caller) that, this would cease if it became legal(i mean banks and pharmeceutical companies don't have shoot outs, do they?), they quickly hang up, silencing the dissenting voice, and then spew on about guys giving their life for the force, and how narcs are the hardest working, most safety compromised members of the force, and how they have to be available 24 hrs. a day. they actually refuted that legalisation would stop this underground crime, even though we have a working example of it working in the past(prohibition).
so, the bottom line here is that, COPS NEED CRIME. if they legalise any illegal drugs, a huge part of their budget justification falls off the face of the earth. policing is a business, like everything is a business. this is why street cops KNOW that maryjane is inoculous, but bigwigs in admin KNOW it is their bread and butter. the bigwigs rule at the ministry of truth.
there has been a massive grassroots(shutup) movement for the last FORTY YEARS! laboratory results have been ignored. dissenters have been demonised. proponents have been marginalised. new propagnda has been thrown out to combat new studies showing the harmlessness of the drug.
'gateway drug' is a joke. people who do drugs do them because they want to. pot smokers who happen to get into harder drugs are the people who would do the harder drugs with or without pot.

I think its funny the government allows factorys to spew smog out into the air for us to breath, but when it comes to our choice what to breath into our lungs, it's not our choice to make.

I swear, it seems like every thread I post in these days is about pot.

Decriminalization is around the corner, or it is unless the government has some serious delusions of grandeur, at any rate. Already, the state of Kansas is taxing drug dealers for peddling their wares, and other states, including Oregon, California, and North Carolina, have begun a process of decriminalization already-- there is no risk of incarceration for first offenders caught with small amounts of pot.

For more on your state's drug laws, pay a visit to NORML's state-by-state catalogue of marijuana laws.



As far as my own thoughts on the matter, I think that this entire 'war on drugs' is a farce, and an ineffectual one at that. If it's lower drug use rates that the government wants, then start selling pot in stores and require that a person be 18 to buy it-- I have yet to meet a dealer that has asked me for ID. If they want profit, allow each state to tax drug sales like Kansas is doing, and remove incarceration penalties like in other states...

All in all, what it comes down to is the fact that people will buy and use drugs whether or not they are legal. All that remains to be seen is who is punished for, and who profits from, these illicit transactions.



Keep on smokin',

Odd

if it became legal in Canada, FOR SURE there would be millions of American citizens who would or would want to move to Canada.

This is a fact.

Think about the explosive economic growth Canada would get, more workers, more consumers, more trade (because the Ex-Americans would still be buying stuff from the US based Companies etc). Housing market would go up, more small buisness (you know we have to have our Taco Bells close to home for those "late night" snack times). Business would take off in Canada.

The US would be forced to downgrade Pot into the semi restricted instead of misdemenor/felony classification, just to stop the flow of US Citizens (and there tax dollars) to Canada as well as to fight the economic growth of the Canadian economy which could drive the US dollar valuation even further into the ground as other Nations would find the growth opporotunity in Canada to be more appealing.