Throughout America pot smokers will spend today(4/20… 420) celebrating and protesting the treatment of marijuana by states and the Federal Government as a major crime while far more dangerous and addictive drugs such as tobacco and alcohol remain legal and easily available. No, I am not stoner. I did smoke in high school and college though. I am however for an honest reevaluation of our country’s drug policies, where we happily take political contributions from the legal ones to keep their natural competition illegal. The cost of prosecuting offenders in our country’s drug war exceeds $10 billion a year and to what end? It’s (pardon the pun) high time we re-look at our drug laws and decriminalize this mostly harmless drug.
Last November, both Colorado and Washington state legalized the recreation use of marijuana by adults. I can’t tell you how Washington is doing, but the state legislature here in Colorado has been doing a very thoughtful job in considering every angle in the public process of enacting that legalization vote. That could all be undone with a signature from Washington DC, where marijuana is still illegal on a federal level.
A recent study by Pew Research Center shows the majority of Americans now supporting the legalization of pot 52 percent to 45 percent, with 72 percent of those surveyed saying the cost of law enforcement efforts not worth pursuing. Of all the drug arrests in the United States, marijuana accounts for practically one half, with an arrest every 37 seconds, according to FBI reports from 2009. 88% of those arrests were for possession too, not for sale or distribution.
The pro-legalization camp grows ever larger year by year from diverse corners of our country.From former liberal Massachusetts Congressman Barney Frank to ultra-conservative religious right leader Pat Robertson, there are many a public figure calling for the legalization and taxation of marijuana. Some call the marijuana a gateway drug, as most people who have gotten in trouble for using other harder drugs generally started out smoking marijuana. However, by the same analysis, one could certainly say alcohol is a gateway drug, or even go so far as saying milk or bread is also a gateway substance, as almost everyone ever busted for heroin also drank milk or ate bread at some time in their lives.
While we continue this silly and outdated war on drugs, the real war for control of this lucrative business in Mexico has claimed over 28,000 lives as drug cartels battle for power. By legalizing and taxing marijuana here in the United States, we won’t entirely end that war, but it will greatly impact the cartels power and reason to go to war with each other, while generating between $40 and $80 billion annually in taxes for our cash strapped states. Anyway you smoke it, that’s not chump change.
Here is a little infographic on the origins of the term 420. Happy 4:20 day to those who participate.
