The Sentencing Project announces the release of a new report, The War on Marijuana: The Transformation of the War on Drugs in the 1990s, which documents the treatment of marijuana use in the criminal justice system. During the 1990s, the “war on drugs” was transformed to a “war on marijuana,” with law enforcement officials shifting their focus to arresting increasing numbers of low-level marijuana offenders. For the period studied (1990-2002), 82% of the national increase in drug arrests was for marijuana offenses, and nearly all of this growth was for possession. This resulted in a significant expenditure of policing resources dedicated to low-level offenses, with only 1 in 18 arrests resulting in a felony conviction. Despite an estimated $4 billion in criminal justice costs being spent annually on marijuana, use and availability of the drug have not declined, while cost has dropped. The results of the report raise important policy questions about resource allocation that need to be considered when analyzing the national drug control approach.
It’s one of the things for which I can never forgive Clinton/Gore — two admitted tokers. Marijuana prohibition is the lynchpin of the pharmaceutical/governmental/correctional complex we call “The Drug War”. There are just not enough meth, heroin, and coke users to justify the bloated budgets, to gain enough from asset forfeiture, to create the law enforcement and prison guard jobs, and to protect the alcohol & pharmaceutical companies’ markets. Why? Because users of these other drugs, unlike ganja tokers, have an annoying tendency to die.
But which drug users are you most afraid of? Unless you’re a bag of Cheetos, it’s not the potheads. When’s the last time a home pot growing operation blew up like a meth lab? When’s the last time a pot junkie broke into your house or car to steal something to pawn for a fix? When’s the last time a deranged pothead went berzerk and beat someone up?
Potheads are peaceful, relaxed, easygoing, creative, sometimes smelly or funny-looking people who give far more to society than they ever take. Potheads hold down jobs, pay taxes, raise families, go to church, and vote (not enough, but more than the other druggies!) Potheads brought to you some of the best music, art, plays, technology, writing, movies, and comedy you’ve ever experienced. Potheads are doctors, lawyers, waiters, politicians, parents, judges, mechanics, and so much more. A few potheads have personal problems, but so do a few of any group.
Bottom line: potheads are not hurting you or society. Why do you want to hurt them?
