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Marijuana Debate Research

Opening Statement
Good Afternoon, fellow chair and judges. I am here today with Dolly Sekhon and
Karman Litt to support the idea of legalizing Marijuana.
Marijuana, a relatively harmless drug, is criminalized. A real crime implies a victim
and a perpetrator. Can you imagine being jailed for robbing yourself? As insane as
this sounds, our government has done the equivalent by making adult use of
marijuana a crime.
Criminalizing marijuana induces organized crime; the black market associated with
it can cause significant harm, and threaten public safety. Much like the prohibition
of alcohol in the early 1900s , marijuanas illegality does not erase the profit
incentive (motivation) instead it establishes a risky unregulated market in which
violence and intimidation are used to settle disputes.
Illicit marijuana causes prices to rise, and gangs get involved. This leads to an
increase in other crimes such as property damage, assaults, theft, robbery and
murder.
Stephan Downing, Los Angeless former Deputy Chief of Police says: When we
ended the prohibition of alcohol, Al Capone was out of work the next day.
Our drug policy is really anti public safety and pro street gang, because it keeps
them in business.
"If you support a current system of drug prohibition, then you support the very
same thing that the cartel and neighborhood gangs support. You might as well be
standing next to them, shaking hands. Because they don't want an end to
prohibition, either."
Despite the belief, Marijuana's illegality has done very little to stop its use. A recent
survey by the National Institutes of Health found that 36 percent of high school
seniors (in America alone) had smoked marijuana in the past year. Legalization
would most likely involve age restrictions on marijuana purchases, while at the
same time providing quality control over product. "The only way we can effectively
control drugs is to create a regulatory system for all of them," says Stamper.
Moreover, tax money, police time and resource are wasted enforcing the
war on pot. In America, in the past decade, police made more than 7 million
marijuana arrests, 88 percent of them for possession alone. In 2010, states spent
$3.6 billion. That's a lot of police time and resources wasted, says former Seattle
Chief.

Cops have limited resources, and spending them on marijuana arrests will
inevitably divert them from other policing.
Nonetheless Marijuana is an effective medicine. There's overwhelming evidence
that marijuana can safely relieve pain, nausea and vomiting caused by various
illnesses. In fact, marijuana is patently safer than many commonly prescribed
drugs.

I will conclude to say the drug war is extremely expensive, highly destructive,
and an abject (hopeless) failure of our government.
Prohibition only pretends to fight drugs. In fact, it guarantees massive profits to
anyone who can produce and deliver prohibited drugs to our streets.
Prohibition creates, sustains and handsomely rewards the illegal drug industry
while pretending to fight that very same industry. Like the classic mafia protection
racket, our government creates a perpetual problem and then exceedingly taxes us
to "protect" us from it.
So why then, throw away our money, to enforce a law which isnt even in effect,
over a relatively harmless drug?

Marijuana as a Gateway Drug: The Myth That Will Not Die


Of all the arguments that have been used to demonize marijuana, few have been more
powerful than that of the gateway effect: the notion that while marijuana itself may
not be especially dangerous, it ineluctably leads to harder drugs like heroin and
cocaine. Even Nick Kristof in a column favoring marijuana legalization alluded to
it this week in the New YorkTimes. In what is known as the to be sureparagraph,
where op-ed writers cite the arguments of opponents, he wrote:
I have no illusions about drugs. One of my childhood friends in Yamhill, Ore., pretty
much squandered his life by dabbling with marijuana in ninth grade and then moving
on to stronger stuff. And yes, theres some risk that legalization would make such
dabbling more common.
The idea that marijuana may be the first step in a longer career of drug use seems
plausible at first: when addicts tell their histories, many begin with a story about
marijuana. And theres a strong correlation between marijuana use and other drug use:
a person who smokes marijuana is more than 104 times more likely to use cocaine
than a person who never tries pot, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
(More on Time.com: 7 Tips for California: How to Make Legalizing Marijuana Smart)
The problem here is that correlation isnt cause. Hells Angels motorcycle gang
members are probably more 104 times more likely to have ridden a bicycle as a kid
than those who dont become Hells Angels, but that doesnt mean that riding a twowheeler is a gateway to joining a motorcycle gang. It simply means that most people
ride bikes and the kind of people who dont are highly unlikely to ever ride a
motorcycle.
Scientists long ago abandoned the idea that marijuana causes users to try other drugs:
as far back as 1999, in areport commissioned by Congress to look at the possible
dangers of medical marijuana, the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of
Sciences wrote:

Patterns in progression of drug use from adolescence to adulthood are strikingly


regular. Because it is the most widely used illicit drug, marijuana is predictably the first
illicit drug most people encounter. Not surprisingly, most users of other illicit drugs
have used marijuana first. In fact, most drug users begin with alcohol and nicotine
before marijuana usually before they are of legal age.
In the sense that marijuana use typically precedes rather than follows initiation of
other illicit drug use, it is indeed a gateway drug. But because underage smoking
and alcohol use typically precede marijuana use, marijuana is not the most common,
and is rarely the first, gateway to illicit drug use. There is no conclusive evidence
that the drug effects of marijuana are causally linked to the subsequent abuse of other
illicit drugs.
Since then, numerous other studies have failed to support the gateway idea. Every
year, the federal government funds two huge surveys on drug use in the population.
Over and over they find that the number of people who try marijuana dwarfs that for
cocaine or heroin. For example, in 2009, 2.3 million people reported trying pot
compared with 617,000 who tried cocaine and 180,000 who tried heroin. (More on
Time.com: See photos of cannabis conventions)
So what accounts for the massive correlation between marijuana use and use of other
drugs? One key factor is taste. People who are extremely interested in altering their
consciousness are likely to want to try more than one way of doing it. If you are a true
music fan, you probably wont stick to listening to just one band or even a single genre
this doesnt make lullabies a gateway to the Grateful Dead, it means that people
who really like music probably like many different songs and groups.
Second is marijuanas illegality: you arent likely to be able to find a heroin dealer if
you cant even score weed. Compared with pot dealers, sellers of hard drugs tend to
be even less trusting of customers they dont know, in part because they face greater
penalties. But if youve proved yourself by regularly purchasing marijuana, dealers will
happily introduce to you to their harder product lines if you express interest, or help
you find a friend of theirs who can.
Holland began liberalizing its marijuana laws in part to close this particular gateway
and indeed now the country has slightly fewer young pot-smokers who move on to
harder drugs compared with other nations, including the U.S. A 2010 Rand
Institute report titled What Can We Learn from the Dutch Cannabis Coffeeshop
Experience? found that there was some evidence for a weakened gateway in The
Netherlands, and concluded that the data clearly challenge any claim that the Dutch
have strengthened the gateway to hard drug use. (More on Time.com: Is Marijuana
Addictive? It Depends How You Define Addiction)

Of course, thats not the gateway argument favored by supporters of our current drug
policy but it is the one supported by science
Would Drug legalization result in more drug abuse by minors
Legal substances are harder to obtain as a minor, than illegal ones. Simply because legal
substances can be regulated with ID and law enforcement focused solely on preventing minor's
use. The notion that legalization of drugs will cause more drug abuse by minors is skewed.
There is substantial evidence that not only has the war on drugs been a failure, but that it has
increased drug use among minors and adults alike.
You have to know someone of age to buy alcohol yet with weed, anyone with money can
purchase it.

The Al Capone Treatment

Could the IRS use the tax code to shut down medical marijuana dispensaries?
In 1931, mobster Al Capone was finally put behind bars because he was
convicted of multiple tax-evasion charges, and the IRS is taking a similar
approach with medical marijuana today. Many dispensaries in California now
face audits that could result in their owing millions of dollars in back taxes.
According to Forbes columnist Robert W. Wood, the agency is relying on
Internal Revenue Code Section 280E, which precludes deductions for any
business trafficking in controlled substances. While dispensaries are legal in
some states, including California, marijuana trafficking remains illegal on a
federal level. The IRS is arguing that normal business expenses that most
companies can deduct on their taxes are not applicable to dispensaries.
The Marin Alliance for Medical Marijuana in Fairfax, Calif., was the first
dispensary to be hit with this ruling earlier this month. Founder Lynette Shaw
told the Marin Independent Journal of California that the IRS audited the
companys returns for 2008 and 2009 and disallowed all of the alliances
business deductions such as buying marijuana, hiring employees, and renting
office space. Shaw did not disclose the amount the IRS told her she owes, but
she described it as a staggering sum totaling several million dollars.
Every dispensary in the nation, past, present and future is dead if this is
upheld, Shaw said. An IRS spokesperson declined to discuss the case. Shaw is
currently planning an appeal.
According to a report from The American Independent, at least 12
dispensaries in California are currently being audited by the IRS.
As columnist Wood points out, the law isnt completely clear. A previous tax
court ruling allowed dispensaries to deduct expenses for activities not directly
related to dispensing marijuana, such as caregiving, counseling, education and
advocacy.
Allen St. Pierre, executive director of the National Organization for the Reform
of Marijuana Laws (NORML), told The American Independentthat the

immaturity of the medical marijuana industry could have opened the door for
these audits, since dispensaries are trying to take normal business deductions
while also asking for special treatment for their products medicinal value.
Not many people show up in the newspapers screaming that they make
millions of dollars and dont want to pay taxes, said St. Pierre
Is Marijuana Addictive?
Long-term marijuana use can lead to addiction; that is, people have difficulty
controlling their drug use and cannot stop even though it interferes with many
aspects of their lives. It is estimated that 9 percent of people who use
marijuana will become dependent on it.10 The number goes up to about 1 in 6
in those who start using young (in their teens) and to 25-50 percent among
daily users.11,12 Moreover, a study of over 300 fraternal and identical twin
pairs found that the twin who had used marijuana before the age of 17 had
elevated rates of other drug use and drug problems later on, compared with
their twin who did not use before age 17.13
According to the 2010 NSDUH, marijuana accounted for 4.5 million of the
estimated 7.1 million Americans dependent on or abusing illicit drugs.1 In
2009, approximately 18 percent of people aged 12 and older entering drug
abuse treatment programs reported marijuana as their primary drug of abuse;
61 percent of persons under 15 reported marijuana as their primary drug of
abuse.14
Marijuana addiction is also linked to a withdrawal syndrome similar to that of
nicotine withdrawal, which can make it hard to quit. People trying to quit report
irritability, sleeping difficulties, craving, and anxiety. They also show increased
aggression on psychological tests, peaking approximately 1 week after they last
used the drug.
Marijuana Legalization in Colorado: Car accidents
Since Colorado voters legalized pot in 2012, prohibition supporters have
warned that recreational marijuana will lead to a scourge of drugged divers
on the states roads. They often point out that when the state legalized medical
marijuana in 2001, there was a surge in drivers found to have smoked
pot. They also point to studies showing that in other states that have legalized
pot for medical purposes, weve seen an increase in the number of drivers
testing positive for the drug who were involved in fatal car accidents. The anti-

pot group SAM recently pointed out that even before the first legal pot store
opened in Washington state, the number of drivers in that state testing positive
for pot jumped by a third.
The problem with these criticisms is that we can test only for the
presence of marijuana metabolites, not for inebriation. Metabolites
can linger in the body for days after the drugs effects wear off
sometimes even for weeks. Because we all metabolize drugs
differently (and at different times and under different conditions), all
that a positive test tells us is that the driver has smoked pot at some
point in the past few days or weeks.
It makes sense that loosening restrictions on pot would result in a
higher percentage of drivers involved in fatal traffic accidents having
smoked the drug at some point over the past few days or weeks. Youd
also expect to find that a higher percentage of churchgoers, good
Samaritans and soup kitchen volunteers would have pot in their
system. Youd expect a similar result among any large sampling of
people. This doesnt necessarily mean that marijuana caused or was
even a contributing factor to accidents, traffic violations or fatalities.
This isnt an argument that pot wasnt a factor in at least some of those
accidents, either. But thats precisely the point. A post-accident test for
marijuana metabolites doesnt tell us much at all about whether pot
contributed to the accident.

Hickenlooper conceded that the consequences of letting people grow, sell, and
consume pot without risking arrest have not been as bad as he feared.

It seems like the people that were smoking before are mainly the people that are
smoking now, Hickenlooper said as Colorado marked six months of legal
recreational sales last week. If thats the case, what that means is that were not
going to have more drugged driving, or driving while high. Were not going to have
some of those problems. But we are going to have a system where were actually
regulating and taxing something, and keeping that money in the state of Colorado
and were not supporting a corrupt system of gangsters.
Since the beginning of this year, anyone 21 or older has been able to walk into
a store in Colorado and walk out with a bag of buds, a vape pen loaded with
cannabis oil, or a marijuana-infused snack. And for years in Washington as well
as Colorado, such products have been readily available to anyone with a
doctors recommendation, which critics say is so easy to get that the system
amounts to legalization in disguise. Despite all this pot tolerance, the sky has
not fallen.`
The experience with medical marijuana is also instructive when it comes to
underage consumption. Studies that compare states with medical marijuana
laws to other states do not find much evidence that allowing patients to use
cannabis for symptom relief drives up recreational use by teenagers. In the
Youth Risk Behavior Survey, the share of Colorado high school students
reporting past-month marijuana use fell by 11 percent between 2009 and 2011.
(Nationwide that number rose by 11 percent during the same
period.) Recreational sales may result in more diversion to minors than medical
sales do, although legal retailers card all customers to make sure they are 21 or
older, something black-market dealers do not have much incentive to do.
Hickenlooper worried aloud about underage consumption in the
Reuters interview. But when he was asked if there is any evidence
that its easier for underage kids to get marijuana than six months
ago, he replied: No, we havent seen that.One of the reasons so
many people voted to legalize it was [that] its been pretty easy to get
it for decades.
Drugged Driving
What about drugged driving, another concern mentioned by Hickenlooper?
Astudy reported in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence last April found
that the proportion of marijuana-positive drivers involved in fatal
motor vehicle crashes in Colorado has increased dramatically since the
commercialization of medical marijuana in the middle of 2009. Or as the
headline over a University of Colorado at Denver press release put it, Marijuana
use [has been] involved in more fatal accidents since commercialization of

medical marijuana. The implication is that easier availability of marijuana in


Colorado has led to an increase in traffic fatalities. But as with a similar
analysis of data from six states that was published by the American Journal of
Epidemiology in January, that is not what the study shows.

Using data from the federal governments Fatality Analysis Reporting System,
pharmacologist Stacy Salomonsen-Sautel and her co-authors found that the
proportion of fatal crashes involving marijuana-positive drivers was 4.5
percent in the first six months of 1994, 5.9 percent in the first six months of
2009, and 10 percent at the end of 2011. The upward trend accelerated after
Colorado regulators rejected restrictions on medical marijuana in July 2009, and
there was no similar increase in the 34 states that at the time did not have
medical marijuana laws. Meanwhile, the proportion of fatal accidents in which
drivers tested positive for alcohol remained about the same.
Do these data mean that legalizing marijuana for medical or
recreational use results in more blood on the highways? No. What
Salomonsen-Sautel et al. call marijuana-positive drivers actually tested
positive for metabolites that linger in blood and urine long after the
drugs effects wear off. THC metabolites are detectable in an
individuals blood or urine for several days and sometimes weeks for
heavy marijuana users, the authors note toward the end of the article.
Hence a marijuana-positive result does not indicate the driver was
under the influence of marijuana at the time of the accident, let alone
that marijuana was a factor in the crash. This study cannot determine
cause and effect relationships, such as whether marijuana-positive
drivers contributed to or caused the fatal motor vehicle crashes,
Salomonsen-Sautel et al. concede. Colorado may have an increased
number of drivers, in general, who were using marijuana, not just an
increase in the proportion who were involved in fatal motor vehicle
crashes.The primary result of this study may simply reflect a general
increase in marijuana use during this same time period in Colorado.
Another reason to doubt that greater tolerance of marijuana boosts
traffic deaths: There was a decreasing trend in fatal motor vehicle
crashes in Colorado since 2004. There was a similar decline in the 34

comparison states, so it does not look like readier access to marijuana


has interfered with this welcome trend. In fact, there is some
evidence that it has on balance reduced traffic fatalities by
encouraging the substitution of marijuana for alcohol, which has a
more dramatic effect on driving ability.
Fatal crashes in Colorado, after rising from 2011 to 2012, fell slightly (from 434
to 428) between 2012 and 2013. In Washington fatal crashes rose slightly (from
403 to 405) between 2012 and 2013.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/jacobsullum/2014/07/10/how-is-marijuanalegalization-going-so-far-the-price-of-pot-peace-looks-like-a-bargain/
Reduce Crime rates:
Prohibition of alcohol back in the early 1900s, caused gangs to gain power on the
streets leading to violent crimes because the criminals were still buying and selling
alcohol illegally. Innocent people were being killed or beaten, because they got caught
up in these wars between criminals, which is much similar to the crimes that have
happened since Cannabis has been prohibited. Cannabis is sold on the streets,
regardless of it being illegal. When the prohibition of alcohol was lifted, criminals lost
power and money and most of the violence subsided. A probable outcome if Marijuana
is legalized.

Adults can still buy drugs for minors, so how is the selling of marijuana
regulated any better:
We are not denying that minors can still get their hands on the drug if its legal,
however whether marijuana be legal or illegal, they still are able to access the drug.
But itd be more difficult to attain the drug, considering most gangs would stop selling
it, and the only means to get it is by forcing someone else to break the law.
Adults can buy drugs from stores, and sell it to minors at a higher price.
Yes, they can if its legalized, however if we currently assess the selling of marijuana
illegally by gangs, its no different.
In that sense, how would legalizing marijuana be beneficial
It would not be beneficial for the minors in that sense, the fact is that if the minor
wants the drug, whether it being illegal or legal, they can get their hands on it one
way or another. Thus wasting money on enforcing a law, which isnt even in effect is
absurd.

Opposing Argument- points and rebuttal:

Extremely addictive for some people:


It would be malpractice to say that cannabis isn't addictive. Anybody who's
experienced it, actually been addicted to it, knows how profound that addiction is....
The difficult thing about marijuana addiction is some people, even though they're
addicted can do fine with it for many many years before they start to have difficultly,
but eventually the high starts wearing off, people start smoking a lot more to try to get
that high back and that's when they descend into difficulties. ...I've been treating
cannabis addiction for 20 years. When people are addicted to cannabis, cocaine and
alcohol the drug they have the most difficult time giving up is the cannabis. It is
extremely addictive...for some people. I think that's where people get confused.
It's not very addictive for many people. It's a small subset of people with a
genetic potential for addiction. But for them it is really tough. You only need talk to
them, they'll tell you how tough it is.
If its illegal or legal, if their addicted, they will find a way to get their hands
on the drug
Additionally, that "small subset" Dr. Drew is talking about isn't so small in a big country
like America. "Of the 7.3 million persons aged 12 or older classified with illicit drug
dependence or abuse in 2012, 4.3 million persons had marijuana dependence or
abuse." It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that the more legal and available
marijuana becomes, the higher those numbers are going to go.
It would only be available to ages 21 and older. The availability of marijuana
for minors would actually decrease, considering the selling of the drug would
be controlled by the government, whereas currently its in the hands of
gangs.
Amsterdam-legalizing Marijuana:
Its citizens are now alarmed that their children are increasingly being exposed to it.
Amsterdam today became the first city in the Netherlands to ban students from
smoking marijuana at school.
The city's mayor Eberhard van der Laan introduced the law after school chiefs
complained about pupils turning up to classes high after rolling up outside the
grounds.
Marijuana is widely available in Holland as, although it is technically illegal, police can't
prosecute people for possession of small amounts.
But it has also had the unwanted side effect that Dutch children are frequently
exposed to the drug in public areas.
Additionally, contrary to the claims that legalizing it will reduce crime, in Amsterdam
its been found that crime is now centering around the coffeehouses where marijuana
is sold.

Certainly the outlook for coffee shops is bleak. Among the few policies that the three
parties in the new coalition government agree on is the need to reduce their numbers.
The governing agreement released last week laid out plans that will force them to
become members-only clubs and shut down those shops located near schools.
The coalition is also advancing the idea of prohibiting the sale of cannabis to nonDutch residents, which amounts to a death knell for many coffee shops.
...The circumstances that led to the tolerance policies have changed in the past
decade, as large-scale crime around coffee shops and the legal sex trade became
more visible. In particular, the absence of legal means for coffee shops to obtain
cannabis has highlighted their association with organized crime.
But the open-minded instincts that helped foster the policies are also being
questioned. And it is not just the far-right opposing coffee shops. The traditional parties
of power on the center-right, the Christian Democrats and the Liberal VVD, have also
moved against the policies they once promoted.
Amsterdam Drug Policies
Dutch drug policy is unique in the whole world. It is directed by an idea that every
human being may decide about the matters of its own health. The Dutch consider this
rule as fundamental, accepting for example as the only country in the world, the
possibility of the controlled suicide (voluntary euthanasia), for terminally ill patients.
Another idea which guides Dutch laws in their drug policy is a conviction that
hiding social negative phenomena does not make them to disappear - on the
contrary makes them worse, because when concealed, they become far more
difficult to influence and control.
Applying these ideas to their drug laws the Dutch try as much as possible
to decriminalize the use of drugs, making it a private matter of each individual, and
not a matter for the enforcement apparatus. Production, trading and stocking drugs
remain a criminal offence, as in any other country.
The Dutch see the use of drugs as a health matter, similar to the use of tobacco and
alcohol, and in fact not very distant from problems of obesity, alcoholism and tobacco
smoking. They also point to the fact that prohibition of alcohol in the US in the years
1919-1933 brought more negative effects of increased criminality, than the positive
social changes and had to be withdrawn.

the fact is that if the minor wants the drug, whether it being illegal or legal, they can
get their hands on it one way or another. Thus wasting money on enforcing a law,
which isnt even in effect is absurd.

Marijuana is terrible for your mental health: Marijuana may even be WORSE
than cigarettes. At least cigarettes don't peel points off of your IQ.
A recent Northwestern University study found that marijuana users have abnormal
brain structure and poor memory and that chronic marijuana abuse may lead to brain
changes resembling schizophrenia. The study also reported that the younger the
person starts using marijuana, the worse the effects become.
In its own report arguing against marijuana legalization, the American Medical
Association said: "Heavy cannabis use in adolescence causes persistent impairments
in neurocognitive performance and IQ, and use is associated with increased rates of
anxiety, mood and psychotic thought disorders."
So, there's a good reason most habitual marijuana users come off as stupid. The drug
is making them stupider, even when they're not high. You really want your kids on
that?

The drug being criminalized, allows society to hide social negative


phenomena. Concealing the truth which is that whether the drug is illegal or
legal, there are means for minors to attain the drug, only makes the problem
worse because it becomes far more difficult to influence and control the
issue.

If its illegal, theyll get it from the streets, and if its legal and the selling of
marijuana is regulated by the government, theyll still find a way to get their
hands on the drug if there desperate. They are more prone to get the drug on the
street from gangsters when its illegal, compared to it being illegal and gangsters
selling marijuana leave the streets.
Thus wasting money on enforcing a law, which isnt even in effect is absurd.

Reasons we should legalize MJ. We are punishing people who have not hurt anyone but
themselves. We cannot succeed in stopping people who are going to do what they want to do,
regardless of every effort to stop them from doing what you do not want them to do. Prohibitions
against MJ, hurt the less fortunate, a whole lot more than the more fortunate. The effort to try to
stop people from doing what they what to do, has given the police the ability to invade the homes of
people, arrest people who are not involved in the making or sale of marijuana, and find civilians.

If gangsters stop selling marijuana on the streets, theyll start selling harder
drugs. What would stop the gangsters from selling harder drugs? If minors cant
get their hands on marijuana, theyll just settle for harder drugs that are being
sold on the streets.

Reply: Are you saying that marijuana is like a toy, thats supposed to distract people
from using harder drugs. In that case, is its precence on the streets, is it actually
supposed to make us feel safe.

Reasons to legalize Marijuana:

9. Prohibition diverts billions from the needy. More than 50 government agencies
feed at the drug war trough. Food stamps and other social programs are being slashed
while billions are spent trying to stop adults from using marijuana.
8. Prohibition is clearly counterproductive. Guaranteeing massive profits to
anyone on earth who can produce and deliver marijuana to our streets cannot do
anything but assure that even more will be produced and delivered.
7. Criminalizing marijuana lacks moral justification. A real crime implies a victim
and a perpetrator. Can you imagine being jailed for robbing yourself? As insane as this
sounds, our government has done the equivalent by making adult use of marijuana a
crime.
Only a depraved, corrupt government could invent a crime you commit against
yourself.
6. Marijuana users are not debased human beings. Cultures throughout history and pre-history! - have altered their minds with a variety of drugs. Billions around the
world derive positive benefits from mind-altering drugs (especially from alcohol,
nicotine, caffeine and marijuana).

Demonizing and criminalizing some drugs, while approving others without rational
criteria, is clearly arbitrary and deceitful. Why are marijuana users criminals while
alcohol and tobacco users are not? Why are marijuana dealers demonized, but alcohol
and tobacco dealers are not?
5. Marijuana is effective medicine. There's overwhelming evidence that marijuana
can safely relieve pain, nausea and vomiting caused by various illnesses. In fact,
marijuana is patently safer than many commonly prescribed drugs.
4. Promising medical research is thwarted. The discovery of naturally occurring
marijuana-like substances in the human body that activate so-called cannabinoid
receptors has opened up vast possibilities for new medicines derived from the 66 or so
cannabinoids identified in marijuana. These receptors are not just in the brain, but also
found in many other parts of the body including the immune, endocrine and
reproductive systems.
3. Billions in potential taxes go to drug cartels. Our cash-strapped states are
being cheated out of billions that could be obtained by taxing and regulating marijuana
like alcohol.
2. Thousands of prohibition murders occur each year. Mexico is the world's
largest exporter of marijuana (most goes to the United States). There were at least
24,000 prohibition-related murders in Mexico since 2006. Thousands more died here,
also a direct result of marijuana prohibition.
1. Prohibition denies our most basic human right. Prohibition takes away our
right of sovereignty over our own bodies and gives this power to government. Does
any other human right make sense if we don't have sovereignty over our own bodies?
There's a word for people who don't have sovereignty over their own bodies: slaves.
The Glaring Truth About the Drug War
The drug war is a blatantly dishonest, extremely expensive, highly destructive, grossly
unjust, abject failure of our government.
Despite 40 years and $1 trillion-plus of taxpayer money spent trying to stop - not
robbery, not rape, not murder, not even shoplifting - but mostly trying to stop adults
from using marijuana; despite draconian punishments; despite jailing millions of
nonviolent Americans; despite thousands of prohibition-related murders each year,
illegal drugs are cheaper, purer and more readily available than ever.
The drug war is a vast government scam guaranteed to be perpetually futile.
Prohibition only pretends to fight drugs. In fact, it guarantees massive profits to
anyone on the planet who can produce and deliver prohibited drugs to our streets.

Jailing drug dealers just creates lucrative job openings for more efficient, more
ruthless, eager replacements. Only a small percentage of illegal drugs are intercepted,
and these are easily and cheaply replaced.
Prohibition creates, sustains and handsomely rewards the illegal drug industry while
pretending to fight that very same industry. Like the classic mafia protection racket,
our government creates a perpetual problem and then charges us exorbitantly to
"protect" us from it.
This abomination continues unabated because our government is addicted to the
taxpayer billions it wastes year after year after year pretending to fight an enemy
created and sustained by prohibition itself.
Marijuana is the linchpin of the drug war. Legalizing marijuana will sound the death
knell for this devastating crime against humanity.
Copyright, Truthout. May not be reprinted without permission

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