This week, I helped form a new North Carolina non-profit– The North Carolina National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NC NORML). Yes, that's right. Weed, dope, pot, ganja, reefer, cannabis. Everyone knows it illegal, but when asked, nobody really knows why. Alcohol, which leads directly to violence and death, is perfectly fine so long as you are of age. Ask any police officer if someone being arrested for marijuana without alcohol has ever resisted, or ask any domestic violence victim if marijuana led to a battering?
Anyone who knows the history laughs at the federal government's original basis for the prohibition back in 1937 that "marijuana is the most violence-causing drug in the history of mankind," claimed to be even more dangerous than ****** or *******. The false news reports that black men, most notably those insidious jazz-musicians, raped, murdered and assaulted white women after smoking marijuana cigarettes were clear race-baiting. The problem, however, is that law and policy remains the same, with the same effect.
Quite a few of the people I know ask why I feel so strongly that marijuana prohibition needs to end; it's basically legal now, right? It is true that North Carolina is somewhat progressive, in that simple possession of less than one-half ounce is regarded as a no-jail offense. But what is astonishing, however, is that the overwhelming majority of those charged with marijuana violations nationally in 2006, 738,915 Americans, 89 percent of these were for simple possession. The remaining 90,710 individuals were for "sale/manufacture," an FBI category that includes marijuana grown for personal use or purely medical purposes. These new FBI statistics indicate that one marijuana smoker is arrested every 38 seconds in America. Taken together, the total number of marijuana arrests for 2006 far exceeded the combined number of arrests for violent crimes, including murder, manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery and aggravated assault.
And who gets arrested most often? People of color, youth and the poor. College kids lose their financial aid, non-violent citizens get criminal records, which greatly impacts future employment opportunities, and people just struggling to survive get caught in the criminal justice system of fees and drug tests. Lives spiral downhill.
As a local attorney with 15 years of experience in the criminal justice system, I feel very strongly that cannabis (which was the original name changed by the federal government to 'marihuana' taken from Mexico) should not be a crime. There is no rational basis for it–it is not dangerous, it is a natural herb and long-standing medicine, is not addictive and has strong positive effects, which for me has involved spiritual and philosophic growth. Many successful people smoke marijuana to unwind in the privacy of their homes, which even Sarah Palin believes should not be a law enforcement priority. How is this any different than the traditional glass of wine after work?
Both state and federal lawmakers know these realities, yet are afraid to change the law, even for the clearest case of all–marijuana as medicine, as is exemplified by HB 1380, the North Carolina Medical Marijuana Act, which remains languishing in the House Health Committee. The federal government's policy to ban all study of marijuana's medicinal effects, or to even look at rescheduling marijuana from a Class I controlled substance (a high potential for abuse and zero medical use), shows a clear irrationality.
While criminalizing marijuana does bring revenue to law enforcement, the cost of such enforcement, prosecutions, and incarcerations diverts scarce resources away from the prosecution of real crime. Marijuana users are not criminals. Why not chose to combat and even prevent violent crime, while at the same time adding much needed revenue to the State's coffers through fair taxation? Reforming marijuana law can provide jobs and revitalize the family farm. Marijuana and industrial hemp production are the perfect replacement for tobacco and our agricultural base.
It is time to have an honest conversation about reforming North Carolina's marijuana laws. The first step is recognizing the very real health issue that is medical marijuana. This means that lawmakers, especially those on the House Health Committee, need to hear the real stories in support of HB 1380 in the last weeks of this short session.
It is hard to "come out of the cannabis closet." I have experienced myself, and have seen it at every turn. There is a strong fear of law enforcement, which is not unfounded based on a nationwide trend of increasingly violent police raids. In Asheville, we enjoy relative happiness and freedom, but the rest of North Carolina needs us, as do our future generations. The time has come to take an honest look at marijuana prohibition and the resulting cost to our society.
Jennifer Foster is an Asheville attorney in private practice.
NewsHawk: Ganjarden: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: Citizen-Times.com
Author: Jennifer Foster
Copyright: 2010 Citizen-Times.com
* Thanks to MedicalNeed for submitting this article
Anyone who knows the history laughs at the federal government's original basis for the prohibition back in 1937 that "marijuana is the most violence-causing drug in the history of mankind," claimed to be even more dangerous than ****** or *******. The false news reports that black men, most notably those insidious jazz-musicians, raped, murdered and assaulted white women after smoking marijuana cigarettes were clear race-baiting. The problem, however, is that law and policy remains the same, with the same effect.
Quite a few of the people I know ask why I feel so strongly that marijuana prohibition needs to end; it's basically legal now, right? It is true that North Carolina is somewhat progressive, in that simple possession of less than one-half ounce is regarded as a no-jail offense. But what is astonishing, however, is that the overwhelming majority of those charged with marijuana violations nationally in 2006, 738,915 Americans, 89 percent of these were for simple possession. The remaining 90,710 individuals were for "sale/manufacture," an FBI category that includes marijuana grown for personal use or purely medical purposes. These new FBI statistics indicate that one marijuana smoker is arrested every 38 seconds in America. Taken together, the total number of marijuana arrests for 2006 far exceeded the combined number of arrests for violent crimes, including murder, manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery and aggravated assault.
And who gets arrested most often? People of color, youth and the poor. College kids lose their financial aid, non-violent citizens get criminal records, which greatly impacts future employment opportunities, and people just struggling to survive get caught in the criminal justice system of fees and drug tests. Lives spiral downhill.
As a local attorney with 15 years of experience in the criminal justice system, I feel very strongly that cannabis (which was the original name changed by the federal government to 'marihuana' taken from Mexico) should not be a crime. There is no rational basis for it–it is not dangerous, it is a natural herb and long-standing medicine, is not addictive and has strong positive effects, which for me has involved spiritual and philosophic growth. Many successful people smoke marijuana to unwind in the privacy of their homes, which even Sarah Palin believes should not be a law enforcement priority. How is this any different than the traditional glass of wine after work?
Both state and federal lawmakers know these realities, yet are afraid to change the law, even for the clearest case of all–marijuana as medicine, as is exemplified by HB 1380, the North Carolina Medical Marijuana Act, which remains languishing in the House Health Committee. The federal government's policy to ban all study of marijuana's medicinal effects, or to even look at rescheduling marijuana from a Class I controlled substance (a high potential for abuse and zero medical use), shows a clear irrationality.
While criminalizing marijuana does bring revenue to law enforcement, the cost of such enforcement, prosecutions, and incarcerations diverts scarce resources away from the prosecution of real crime. Marijuana users are not criminals. Why not chose to combat and even prevent violent crime, while at the same time adding much needed revenue to the State's coffers through fair taxation? Reforming marijuana law can provide jobs and revitalize the family farm. Marijuana and industrial hemp production are the perfect replacement for tobacco and our agricultural base.
It is time to have an honest conversation about reforming North Carolina's marijuana laws. The first step is recognizing the very real health issue that is medical marijuana. This means that lawmakers, especially those on the House Health Committee, need to hear the real stories in support of HB 1380 in the last weeks of this short session.
It is hard to "come out of the cannabis closet." I have experienced myself, and have seen it at every turn. There is a strong fear of law enforcement, which is not unfounded based on a nationwide trend of increasingly violent police raids. In Asheville, we enjoy relative happiness and freedom, but the rest of North Carolina needs us, as do our future generations. The time has come to take an honest look at marijuana prohibition and the resulting cost to our society.
Jennifer Foster is an Asheville attorney in private practice.
NewsHawk: Ganjarden: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: Citizen-Times.com
Author: Jennifer Foster
Copyright: 2010 Citizen-Times.com
* Thanks to MedicalNeed for submitting this article
