Illegal Drugs Part 12 - Marijuana, Perhaps Tax and Spend?

(SALEM, Ore.) - In previous articles in this series I have covered a number of topics, including, but not limited to: the history of marijuana use; commercial and medical uses of marijuana; the opposition of it because of racism; the political reasons (money for agents) behind its federal criminalization; and how it is far safer to use than 17 FDA approved drugs that were mostly prescribed for conditions marijuana can treat.

Those who choose to research the subject matter typically are horrified about the situation. But when will the situation change? The nation is in the throes of a terrible economic recession, and yet we are still spending tens of billions in the war on marijuana use, while the Mexican cartels are making more than that selling it.

And why is it this way? The last three American presidents, and the current governor of California, are amongst the over 100 million Americans who have used marijuana. It is a politically divisive issue, with conservatives normally opposing legalization, while progressives tend to favor it. But there are exceptions.

In 2004 William F. Buckley Jr., arguably the conservative movement's smartest, most eloquent and intellectual spokespersons stated in a column arguing for the legalization of marijuana.

"Conservatives pride themselves on resisting change, which is as it should be. But intelligent deference to tradition and stability can evolve into intellectual sloth and moral fanaticism, as when conservatives simply decline to look up from dogma because the effort to raise their heads and reconsider is too great."

So what is it that is preventing the legalization of marijuana? The iconic Buckley goes on:

"Professor Ethan Nadelmann, of the Drug Policy Alliance, writing in National Review, estimates at 100,000 the number of Americans currently behind bars for one or another marijuana offense.

What we face is the politician's fear of endorsing any change in existing marijuana laws. You can imagine what a call for reform in those laws would do to an upward mobile political figure. Gary Johnson, governor of New Mexico, came out in favor of legalization, and went on to private life."

Another five years has passed since Buckley wrote his column. Conservative political pundits Fox News' Glenn Beck and CNN's Jack Cafferty have recently publicly questioned the billions spent each year fighting the endless war against drugs and to suggest it now makes more financial and social sense to tax and regulate marijuana.

"It's a combination of all these things coming together at once and producing that 'aha' moment," said Bruce Mirken, spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project, who have monitored the political fortunes of legalization, "for the first time in my adult lifetime, it looks possible."

"If you'd asked me 10 years ago - or three years ago - I would have said it will be a long, slow slog, And now, it looks like it might happen faster than any of us believed." President Obama recently took a prime-time news conference question on marijuana legalization and laughingly sidestepped the question.

This was a grave disappointment to many of us. A California Assemblyman, Tom Ammiano, has introduced a bill to tax and regulate the drug, an idea that polls suggest is no longer out of the mainstream. The findings of a February Rasmussen poll showed 40 percent of Americans support legalizing the drug, with 46 percent opposed and 14 percent unsure.

"Part of the explanation is people's good feelings about medical marijuana," Ammiano said. "It's demonstrated that it can work. People are growing in confidence that we can continue to make it more legal."

Opponents of legalization have long expressed concerns, saying that making marijuana legal will compound substance abuse problems that it is a gateway drug that leads to use of harder drugs and that legalization would send the wrong message to children.

But marijuana experimentation by adolescents does not lead to the use of harder drugs, according to the findings of a RAND study released in 2002. The study dismisses the so-called "gateway theory," and raises doubts regarding the legitimacy of federal drug policies based upon its premise.

"While the gateway theory has enjoyed popular acceptance, scientists have always had their doubts," said lead researcher Andrew Morral, associate director of RAND's Public Safety and Justice Unit. "Our study shows that these doubts are justified."

After analyzing data from the U.S. National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (which measures patterns and frequency of self-reported drug use among Americans), researchers concluded that teenagers who tried hard drugs were predisposed to do so whether or not they tried marijuana.

Morral said that the study raises serious questions about the legitimacy of basing national drug policy decisions on the false assumption that pot is a gateway drug. "For example, it suggests that policies aimed at reducing or eliminating marijuana availability are unlikely to make any dent in the hard drug problem," he said.

A recent World Health Organization study found that 42.4 percent of Americans have tried marijuana. That is the highest percentage of any country surveyed and compares to a 20 percent rate in the Netherlands, where the drug is legal. National statistics show 870,000 + arrests last year was related to marijuana, with about 770,000 of them for possession; not sale or manufacturing.

Since the politicians are too afraid, what is needed is a grassroots groundswell movement to push for legalization, regulation and taxation, such as done with alcohol. The time has come that everyone in favor of legalization needs to mimic the film character Howard Beale of the movie Network. "I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it any longer!"

Salem-News.com Marijuana Coverage

Where and How to Smoke Legal Marijuana without Fear of Arrest in the U.S.

Eulogy of a Great Warrior: Hoss Plourde

The Ripple Effect How Marijuana Laws Are Impacting Society

Audit the Audit

Welcome Home, Tom

Comments Leave a comment on this story.

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JD September 17, 2009 8:56 am (Pacific time)

MY 21 YR OLD DAUGHTER WAS RECENTLY ARRESTED FOR DUI AND POT POSSESSION. THE ARREST REPORT SHOWS 'CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE'. SHE WAS NOT ALLOWED TO ENTER NURSING SCHOOL THIS YR. SINCE SHE IS ON PROBATION FOR THE OFFENSE. ST. FRANCIS HOSPITAL IN TULSA SAYS IT IS A PROBLEM. SHE HAS MAINTAINED A 3.8 GRADE AVG. FOR THREE YEARS OF COLLEGE. IT IS A SHAME THAT SOMETHING LIKE THAT COULD HAPPEN TODAY.

Dorsett Bennett May 2, 2009 10:08 pm (Pacific time)

This is not really in the subject matter, but I could not resist mentioning it anyway. If you can put up with the gratuitous use of the F. word, there is a dropdead funny movie made a few years ago by Joel and Ethan Cohen. It is called The Big Lebowski. Jeff Bridges plays such a wonderful 'stoner.' I could play the bathtub scene 10 times in a row. It is well worth watching.

allan April 30, 2009 9:44 pm (Pacific time)

nice one Dorsett! Nothing to add. Just sending props your way. And totally off topic... flying saucers are a Nazi invention, not aliens. That was a fantasy manufactured by the same folks who gave us Reefer Madness - our government. There is a pattern there...

adman April 30, 2009 4:54 pm (Pacific time)

Now is the time to push for government repeal of the failed "war on drugs." I don't want my money being used to put non-violent citizens behind bars based on ideology, not scientific fact. Portugal is a great example of how legalizing drugs is the smart way to deal with mankind's unwavering desire to alter their perception. You know the war on drugs will never archive its goal when drugs can be made from common items found in every supermarket (meth).

Daniel April 30, 2009 11:06 am (Pacific time)

James I had a great uncle who never bought taxed alcohol , he made his own wine .His wine contained no sulfites or toxic chemicals . Marijuana should be legal for all to grow . The government and big business should not control it . It is far past time to legalize for all .

Wes Day - Birmingham, AL April 30, 2009 9:33 am (Pacific time)

Great article. I wrote a paper on the subject and was able to disprove the Gateway theory, and once I did the research on it's history, I became heavily entrenched in my position. There is no way to form an intelligent argument against legalizing marijuana. People just need to understand the difference between "LEGALIZATION" and "ADVOCATION." It's been so ingrained in us as a society to believe that throwing someone in jail fixes something. If someone has a drug problem, they deserve help, not incarceration. And lets be honest here, who really thinks jail Rehabilitates people. Maybe a few percentage points make it out renewed. I've known a couple of you who did. But how common is it? In the macro view, it's throwing fuel on the fire. Excellent article, I'm behind you 100%

Donald Sheldon April 30, 2009 7:09 am (Pacific time)

We have no choice but to re-legalize all the currently prohibited drugs in the US just like FDR did for alcohol in 1933. This War on Drugs is a thinly disguised reinstatement of slavery in the US and we need to acknowledge it and end it now and turn the "POWs" loose with their civil rights restored. Anything less is a charade. Look at the web site leap.cc, better yet join their organization. They have it right. Does anyone even know what "crack cocaine" is? It is just Cocaine with a traceable amount of baking soda in it. This is a really stupid law alright but changing it will not make any measurable difference in the failed War on Drugs unless the penalty is reduced retroactively. Even then it will only help a few inmates. STOP the charade END PROHIBITION NOW! Donald Sheldon

rastafootsoldier April 30, 2009 4:50 am (Pacific time)

if it is legalised then you would be able to grow your own as with home-brewing kits for alcohol ale and beer or local vin yards in france who grow it pay tax on it but still find it fairly cheap to buy if you buy from a street vendor your paying unregulated tax if buying from a government run organisation your paying standardised tax if growing your own your paying a one off tax for the machinery not for the product its self legalise and home grow

shaun landers April 30, 2009 3:10 am (Pacific time)

i am gonna be so pissed that i went through that 1200 step program 240 hours community service my butt if it becomes legal and they release all the prisoners that have been there for years its kinda sad you can get more years for pot than man slaughter how pathetic of a nation is this i see now the old schoolers are a dying breed and the new school raised on smoking pot to keep the anger that gets fueled by their ignorance down is growing now all we gotta watch out for is rising prices of weed yippee just another way for tobbacco industries to get rich i hear marlboro already has a pattoned box how gay i belive in legalizing if not at least decriminalizing pot but i dont agree with the way it will be done tax tax tax are you people stupid it will be just as bad and you know it but hey whatever just another notch in the us of a's belt right

Jon April 30, 2009 1:29 am (Pacific time)

I totally believe that marijuana should be legal for more reasons than one. I have always felt that it should have never been made illegal in the fist place. For decades the government mostly telling lies trying to make people fear it. just for the record i would totally buy taxed marijuana just because i would have finally been given that option.

james April 30, 2009 12:49 am (Pacific time)

to the post Vic made - Taxed marijuana would not be any more expensive than you get it on the streets unless you buy a lot.. With that attitude, you are either a dealer, or someone who is ignorantly against it's legalization. Well written artical, it's far past time to legalize!

Vic April 29, 2009 4:52 pm (Pacific time)

I for one will never buy taxed marijuanna. Ill get it illegally for half the price.

Legalization Advocate April 29, 2009 3:31 pm (Pacific time)

Proud to see someone step up and voice an opinion so many of us share. For many reasons marijuana should be legal. For so many more reasons it should not be illegal. This is a maddening topic for sure! So many folks just lack knowledge about cannabis, and fill in the blanks with fear, stubbornness, and mainstream propaganda. I hope that change comes soon. Hundreds of years from now we will look back at the prohibition of mary j (which historically is a snap in time) and be baffled. Good article, please keep spreading the awareness, cannabis is not something to be scared of, especially compared to prescribed drugs and alcohol.

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