Did you know that the United States has the highest incarceration rates in the world? In the last accounting that I am aware of, in 2006, we had over 7.2 million people either in jail, on parole or probation. Over 2.2 million currently reside in prison. Our prison population rates have quadrupled since 1980.
Contrast this with China which has 1.5 million prisoners, in a country with four times our population. Much of the increase in prison population is attributable to our country's tired and failed drug policy. Over 800,000 people were arrested last year for crimes involving the possession of Cannabis. Fully one third of Federal Drug prisoners are for marijuana.
We live in a country where three out of four people support the use of medical marijuana. Over 80 million americans admit to having used pot in their lifetime with 20 million admitting use within the last year. The government has done its best to vilify marijuana smoking for the last 50 years and its outlandish warnings have all been shown to be poppycock. With the exception of some respiratory problems amongst a small percentage of users, it's effects pale next to those of alcohol and tobacco.
I know. As a cancer survivor who has endured no less than 8 intensive surgeries including a nephrectomy, I saw the difference between being treated with opiates and narcotics and self medicating with the much less toxic marijuana. Morphine and Dilaudid turned me into a sleepless wreck while my recovery time with marijuana was cut in half and pain never went up past a manageable level. Please don't tell me about Marinol. It is worthless. I know. Heavy psychoactive effects and doesn't get you high.
I had hoped that Bill Clinton would take a courageous stand towards relaxing the current draconian reefer policy. I was sadly disappointed. I will not be so wildly optimistic about Obama. The percentage of spliff enjoying politicians probably equals or exceeds the national average, they just don't have the courage to admit it and to put their reputations on the line for the countless people like them who are stewing in some penitentiary.
Think of the money we could make in the State of California with legalized marijuana. I could see great growing contests between the old hippie salts in Mendocino, duking it out with serious agra farmers in the San Joaquin Valley with row after row of premium hemp. Seriously, tax it, standardize the THC levels and watch the revenue flow in. But everyone is too scared and too hypocritical and afraid of being labeled a monster so nothing will get done. What is the cost to our society to put and keep all of these poor people in prison? Billions of dollars. We are destroying their lives over what is essentially essentially harmless and mostly private behavior. Countless casual marijuana users from all walks of life live productive, healthy existences without crossing some mysterious "gateway" to hard drug usage and religion.
Legalizing pot would put a huge dent in crime, both releasing those currently languishing in jail for trivial possession raps and also effectively neutralizing the criminal cartels from Mexico and all their attendant violence. Lets take our country back from the Calvinist right wing and advocate a sensible decriminalization program. For everybody, not just the seriously ill. Don't let Washington tell you how to think!
4 comments:
Your column resonates even more knowing YOU are playing devil's advocate, not caring one way or another whether or not YOU should be allowed to toke out your ownself, knowing full well your indulging is limited to occasional 'Social' bong hits. By the way, your incarceration information is laughable, using Comunist China as a benchmark. At last observation China has over 1 billion under subjugation and therefore the entire country is in prison. Yeah, trumps his ass again, ow!!!
like wow man....I was going to write a comment but uhhhhh....I uhhh...forgot what I was uhhh....going to say?......
According to a new study released June 30 by the World Health Organization, the U.S. leads the world and -- just in time for the Olympics -- takes the gold for the use of tobacco, pot, and cocaine, far outpacing other countries, even the Netherlands, where drug laws are far less draconian. In the U.S., more than 42% in the study admit having used marijuana,(Ed., a further 23% probably couldn't recall if they'd smoked or not!)
Anonymous one, I admit that I have no respect for the current drug laws, largely instituted as a result of William Randolph Hearst and his buddy Harry Anslinger, being afraid that hemp forests would reduce the value of his timber holdings. Prisons are big business in America ( both for the cheap goods produced there and for perpetuating the large private prison business), and I think that the drug war is largely economically driven.
A friend of mine did three years in the Federal Prison of Boron for having 16 plants in his yard. But hypocritical members of my generation are too cowed to say anything about our moronic drug laws.
You accurately point out China's record of repression. I just find it clinically fascinating that with all of our "freedoms", we feel such an extreme need for punishment that exceeds all other countries. I read somewhere that we currently hold 25% of the world's prison population. You americans are awfully naughty.
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