"Surely our national experience with alcohol should make us wary of dampening speech suggesting—however inarticulately—that it would be better to tax and regulate marijuana than to persevere in a futile effort to ban its use entirely." - Justice John Paul Stevens
Who among you has spoken out in favor of legalization of marijuana? Not just among your pot-smokin' buds (Pun intended) but to your parents, clergy or teachers?
I'll bet that quite a few of you (I would) answered in the affirmative for the former, but negative for the latter. And I bet I know why. Despite research to the contrary, illegal drugs still have a stigma attached to them of being incredibly dangerous. People are afraid of speaking out in favor of legalization for fear of being labelled "stoners" or "druggies." If I spoke against seatbelt laws, but promised to wear mine as often as possible, would be branded irresponsible? I doubt it.
This stigma surrounding illegal drugs must be eliminated. Research, including a study in the medical journal The Lancet showing that Ecstasy, LSD and Marijuana, which are all illegal, are less dangerous than alcohol or tobacco, both of which are legal.
The only forces keeping this arbitrary status in place for these drugs is tradition - alcohol and tobacco have been used for longer by "regular people" than LSD, Ecstasy or marijuana, all of gained in use, and were then banned in the past century. Marijuana was banned in a fit of racism, as it was associated with lazy Mexican immigrants, as well as side effects of "Murder! Insanity! Death!" LSD was banned in the 1970s when hippies and their "degenerative culture" was frowned upon.
Even if we, as a society, are not yet ready to fully legalize these drugs which, for a few generations, have been greatly frowned upon, we should consider the promotion of their legalization with a serious, scientific eye. After all, while I would risk expulsion from school for use of marijuana, let alone cocaine (which is far more dangerous than alcohol or tobacco), we are actively considering someone who admits to cocaine use for President (Barack Obama, whom I support as my second-choice candidate).
"I'll bet that quite a few of you (I would) answered in the affirmative for the former, but negative for the latter. And I bet I know why. Despite research to the contrary, illegal drugs still have a stigma attached to them of being incredibly dangerous. People are afraid of speaking out in favor of legalization for fear of being labelled "stoners" or "druggies.""
That is spot on. I personally have spoken out about it to teachers, lecturers and my parents, but then again I was busted with weed when I was 14, so I was already labelled. So I wasn't so much speaking out as defending my position. It's actually really liberating when people label you a 'druggie' or a 'stoner', because it frees you up to intellectually bitchslap their narrow minded asses when they get uppity, instead of grinning and bearing it for fear you'll have your little secret exposed.
"This stigma surrounding illegal drugs must be eliminated. Research, including a study in the medical journal The Lancet showing that Ecstasy, LSD and Marijuana, which are all illegal, are less dangerous than alcohol or tobacco, both of which are legal."
Yeah, I read about the results and aims of that study. It was performed in order to further the idea of introducing drug laws based upon a substances actual threat to society, as opposed to moral outrage and stigma associated with certain substances as a result of an ignorant voting population and equal ignorant politicians who are more interested in massaging the unreasonable sensibilities of the ignorant than applying laws based on reason.
"The only forces keeping this arbitrary status in place for these drugs is tradition.."
and underhanded anti-drug propaganda spread by the morally outraged and factually ignorant.
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I am the people my mother warned me about.
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/tuffgong
We need to repeal the whole war on drugs," said our next president, Ron Paul. "This is a disease, not a crime." There was no doubt who won the GOP candidates debate at Morgan University in Maryland. But former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee also admitted. "We have a drug and alcohol problem." and stressed the need for rehabilitation and treatment over incarceration for drug offenses.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nation/politics/bal-debatepoll,0,322329...
http://www.examiner.com/a-960343~GOP_candidates_swipe_no_shows_at_Morgan...
The International Drug Policy Reform Conference is the world's principal gathering of people who believe the war on drugs is doing more harm than good. No better opportunity exists to learn about drug policy and to plan and mobilize for reform. This year's conference will be held December 5-8 at the Astor Crowne Plaza in the legendary French Quarter in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Drug Policy Alliance has announced they will offer a limited number of scholarships to bring people to New Orleans.
http://kessjones.com/conf07/index.html
http://www.kessjones.com/conf07/documents/Brochure7.pdf
http://kessjones.com/conf07/scholarships.html
Read more: Happy Halloween in a Culture of Violence! http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/mccool
Colleen McCool is a portrait artist, poet and peace activist.
http://mccoolportraits.com/2007rebelwithjustcause.htm
Member - Law Enforcement Against Prohibition
http://www.leap.cc/
& Drug Policy Forum of Texas
Ron Paul. What an interesting figure. While I appreciate his stance against the War on Drugs, I have serious issues with many of his other positions. Conveniently, I just published a blogpost about that. Check out my most recent article: http://progressiveu.org/162717-ron-paul-a-wolf-in-sheeps-clothing
Milton Friedman, Nobel prize winner and former adviser to the Reagan administration was also an advocate of abolishing the ridiculous "war on drugs". I remember watching a really good interview where he broke down the economic unreason behind the "war on drugs", as that was essentially his area of expertise, but he further underlined the fact that as far as he was concerned the economic concerns were secondary to the moral concerns; he stated that the "war on drugs" was a morally bankrupt policy, not one that operates from the moral highground. Here's a link to a snippet of him being interviewed for BBC, I can't find the doc I saw him on. I'll post it if I find it any time soon:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2gVVP2QtTs
Mike Gravel also promised to end the "war on drugs". Here's a link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWA8upoFJ5A
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I am the people my mother warned me about.
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/tuffgong
U.S. police arrested an estimated 829,625 individuals for making a safer choice (marijuana violations) in 2006, according to the latest FBI annual Uniform Crime Report. That total, the highest ever recorded for marijuana violations, made up 44 percent of all drug arrests. The impact on society from the children orphaned and displaced by this senseless policy is a crying shame.
http://www.drugwarfacts.org/causes.htm
Meanwhile across the US last year 40% of the murders, almost 60% of the rapes and about half of the aggravated assaults went unsolved! The cumulative effect of this is horrendous. While we police individual recreational and medicinal use of drugs; murderers and violent sexual predators roam free. Law Enforcement keeping the focus on marijuana despite the rise in violent crime is policy bordering on insanity or reefer madness.
I agree prohibition is a moral and fiscal a train wreck.
http://www.drugsense.org/html/modules.php?name=Wodclock
Restore justice in America; construct science based drug policies about saving and rehabilitating instead of ruining lives. Warriors can get their adrenal rush catching murderers and violent sexual predators. Many of whom we know are out there, somewhere. Then our peacekeepers will truly be making our neighborhoods safer.
Read more:
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/mccool
Colleen McCool is a portrait artist, poet and peace activist.
http://mccoolportraits.com/2007rebelwithjustcause.htm
Member - Law Enforcement Against Prohibition
http://www.leap.cc/
& Drug Policy Forum of TexasColleen McCool is a portrait artist, poet and peace activist.
http://mccoolportraits.com/2007rebelwithjustcause.htm
Member - Law Enforcement Against Prohibition
http://www.leap.cc/
& Drug Policy Forum of Texas