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Most of us can agree that drug abuse is a serious problem. We have all seen the dreadful things that heroin, crack, "meth" and other hard street drugs have done to individuals, families and society.
As a result we tend to place all illegal drugs into dangerous and destructive categories. Yet until the recent prescription drug abuse era, we treated legally approved drugs as always beneficial or desirable. The "oxy" generation woke us up.
Yet, our laws still consider using any amount of marijuana as a dangerous activity, worthy of prison sentences. It is time to re-evaluate decriminalization of marijuana.
One of the strongest arguments against legalizing marijuana is that it is a "gateway" drug. People who try marijuana will then go on to use harder drugs.
For some this is true. Like alcoholics, people with a tendency to become addicted to substances seek out drugs and addictive substances. The fallacy of the "gateway" theory can be related to today's "pain pill" demand as having been started by Tylenol. Not so.
All types of highly addictive "pain pills" are prescribed frequently. But medical marijuana, considered controversial, is now legal in 16 states and Washington D.C.; it is highly effective for serious pain. Eventually, legalization of medical marijuana will spread to other states and may be the first step in decriminalizing this substance.
Last year various news sources noted that U.S. Reps. Barney Frank, D-Mass., a clear liberal, and Ron Paul, R-Texas, anything but liberal, planned to introduce a bill to remove marijuana from the list of federally controlled substances and eliminate criminal penalties. As with alcohol, they preferred the states to regulate marijuana.
While there is no chance that such a bill would pass Congress (even vital and basically non-controversial bills can't get through this Congress), it does show that more politicians are recognizing that changes should be made in marijuana laws.
The present laws and views about marijuana are similar to those regarding prohibition almost a century ago. Making alcohol illegal proved a boon for gangsters and the underworld. Legalizing it was a bonus for businesses and taxes.
Alcohol, while very much a part of our social and economic fabric, still has negatives. Some people become addicted to it; others do dreadful things while under its influence.
Our prisons are full of people charged with drug offenses, some of them minor. We need better ways of preventing drug abuse, but it is a waste of resources to lock up those using small amounts of marijuana.
Being a mother of three, married and working during the age of free love and drugs, I missed experience with marijuana. Therefore, re-evaluating the legality of marijuana is not a personal issue, but rather one of reality.
Almost every study on drug usage in this country says that the four-decade-old "war on drugs" is not working. The National Drug Control Policy Office indicated that in the past few years our government has spent close to $15 billion fighting drug problems.
I am not advocating marijuana usage and recognize that using it is not risk free. But then neither is excess use of most other substances we consume. We must educate youth about the dangers of legal and illegal drugs as well as alcohol and prescription drugs.
Like alcohol, use of marijuana can yield problems, but changing the legal status of this drug means our country will have more energy and funding to cope with more serious drug issues.
News Hawk- TruthSeekr420 420 MAGAZINE
Source: herald-dispatch.com
Author: The Herald-Dispatch
Contact: Herald-Dispatch - Contact Us
Website: Diane W. Mufson: It's time for a review of marijuana laws - The Herald Dispatch
As a result we tend to place all illegal drugs into dangerous and destructive categories. Yet until the recent prescription drug abuse era, we treated legally approved drugs as always beneficial or desirable. The "oxy" generation woke us up.
Yet, our laws still consider using any amount of marijuana as a dangerous activity, worthy of prison sentences. It is time to re-evaluate decriminalization of marijuana.
One of the strongest arguments against legalizing marijuana is that it is a "gateway" drug. People who try marijuana will then go on to use harder drugs.
For some this is true. Like alcoholics, people with a tendency to become addicted to substances seek out drugs and addictive substances. The fallacy of the "gateway" theory can be related to today's "pain pill" demand as having been started by Tylenol. Not so.
All types of highly addictive "pain pills" are prescribed frequently. But medical marijuana, considered controversial, is now legal in 16 states and Washington D.C.; it is highly effective for serious pain. Eventually, legalization of medical marijuana will spread to other states and may be the first step in decriminalizing this substance.
Last year various news sources noted that U.S. Reps. Barney Frank, D-Mass., a clear liberal, and Ron Paul, R-Texas, anything but liberal, planned to introduce a bill to remove marijuana from the list of federally controlled substances and eliminate criminal penalties. As with alcohol, they preferred the states to regulate marijuana.
While there is no chance that such a bill would pass Congress (even vital and basically non-controversial bills can't get through this Congress), it does show that more politicians are recognizing that changes should be made in marijuana laws.
The present laws and views about marijuana are similar to those regarding prohibition almost a century ago. Making alcohol illegal proved a boon for gangsters and the underworld. Legalizing it was a bonus for businesses and taxes.
Alcohol, while very much a part of our social and economic fabric, still has negatives. Some people become addicted to it; others do dreadful things while under its influence.
Our prisons are full of people charged with drug offenses, some of them minor. We need better ways of preventing drug abuse, but it is a waste of resources to lock up those using small amounts of marijuana.
Being a mother of three, married and working during the age of free love and drugs, I missed experience with marijuana. Therefore, re-evaluating the legality of marijuana is not a personal issue, but rather one of reality.
Almost every study on drug usage in this country says that the four-decade-old "war on drugs" is not working. The National Drug Control Policy Office indicated that in the past few years our government has spent close to $15 billion fighting drug problems.
I am not advocating marijuana usage and recognize that using it is not risk free. But then neither is excess use of most other substances we consume. We must educate youth about the dangers of legal and illegal drugs as well as alcohol and prescription drugs.
Like alcohol, use of marijuana can yield problems, but changing the legal status of this drug means our country will have more energy and funding to cope with more serious drug issues.
News Hawk- TruthSeekr420 420 MAGAZINE
Source: herald-dispatch.com
Author: The Herald-Dispatch
Contact: Herald-Dispatch - Contact Us
Website: Diane W. Mufson: It's time for a review of marijuana laws - The Herald Dispatch
