For this week’s Focus Friday, we discuss the legalization of marijuana. The Drug Enforcement Agency recently announced it could potentially be rescheduling cannabis in the coming months and has marijuana activists in a frenzy.
Do you think the DEA will actually reschedule cannabis this time?
Opinion columnist Reagan Earnst: I do believe that the DEA will reschedule marijuana this go around. It seems obtuse that marijuana is currently a Schedule 1 drug along with heroin and LSD, which are responsible for thousands of overdoses every year. It’s understandable that perhaps in past decades we did not fully understand the potential dangers of marijuana, but research from a multitude of studies has revealed that the risks associated with marijuana use are inherently small.
It is time that the Drug Enforcement Agency get with the times and realize that marijuana is not even close to being as dangerous as some of the other drugs that they consider Schedule I.
Opinion columnist Frank Campos: It’s about time the DEA reschedules marijuana from schedule I to schedule II. Putting it in the same category as heroin, ecstasy and LSD is one of the biggest mistakes the DEA ever made. Both heroin and ecstasy put people in the morgue while marijuana has single-handedly rejuvenated Jack in the Box to consumers and has caused afternoon naps and food comas all over the United States.
The DEA needs to set an example to the lawmakers of this country. Marijuana at its worst should be compared to alcohol as a fun, and safe way to get a “high” when used responsibly. With all the studies done by the DEA and the positive response in Colorado, the DEA would be stupid not to reschedule marijuana and get out of the 1930s.
Opinion columnist Samuel Pichowsky: I do think there is a possibility that the DEA will reschedule cannabis, but it will not be enough. Study after study has shown the effects of cannabis, so at this point one must wonder why it is still illegal anywhere. Cannabis is definitely not as harmful as other substances. It would be a step in the right direction for legalization advocates and for being scientifically accurate in general. The sooner it is rescheduled, the better.
Should marijuana be legalized on a federal level?
RE: Honestly, marijuana should be legalized on a federal level. It is highly hypocritical of lawmakers to be OK with society’s love affair with alcohol and tobacco but ban marijuana. In my opinion, weed is not conducive to a great work ethic, but nobody is getting cancer or overdosing from smoking small amounts of it.
In fact, we are treating cancer patients with marijuana. Its benefits far outweigh its risks and its time we get rid of the stigma that is associated with marijuana. Many states have already legalized it and have reaped the benefits of the tax revenue derived from marijuana sales.
FC: Marijuana should be legalized on the federal level. We are at a time in our country where we are finally starting to be more tolerant towards many lifestyles and ideals that where once thought to be extremely taboo. With the legalization of marijuana in a couple of states and more and more states allowing for medical use, marijuana should be looked at with a more tolerant and accepting point of view. Legalizing marijuana at a federal level would benefit many with medical needs in states where it is illegal, and it would benefit the economy by adding another resource with multiple uses and qualities.
SP: Yes, marijuana should be legalized on a federal level. It should be regulated as much as any other legal substance like alcohol and tobacco. Also, the immediate release of any one incarcerated for possession is required. Non-violent marijuana related offenders should be released as soon as possible. The sooner marijuana is legalized the better it will be for state economies, by reducing crime and reducing mass incarceration.
If people want to smoke marijuana, let them smoke it, regulate it and make a profit out of it. This has been done with tobacco and alcohol. Does everybody smoke tobacco or drink? No. Just keep it out of the hands of children and follow Colorado’s lead.
Yes, marijuana should legalized especially at a federal level. Alcohol has caused more deaths in 1 year than marijuana has the past 20 years but alcohol is legal, regulated. Prohibition ended to pull the country out of depression. The same needs to be done for marijuana. Create jobs, generate revenue on city, state and federal levels, exactly what America needs right now. Aside from the medicinal attributes marijuana has, as opinion columnist Frank Campos stated (above), a safe “high” when used responsibly. Our government seems to think they should have control over what we put into our bodies but are ok with the additives, steroids, and other harmful substances the FDA has approved to put into our foods.
After years of debates and countless research proving marijuana isn’t any where near as harmful as alcohol or tobacco and has numerous positive effects on illnesses and big pharma treatments. What this boils down to is big pharma and the prison system. Big pharma doesn’t want marijuana legalized from fear of losing profits from the real drug pushers. The prison system doesn’t want it legalized due to the number of prisoners that will be set free, cutting into their money.
I know there are enough people in this country to vote marijuana into recreational legalization but afraid to stand up. Afraid if they show support they will be targeted, it’s time to step out of fear and into the light. We have lost all of our industrial jobs due to companies moving to countries for cheaper labor. We have turned into a service country. If people want to bring America back to it’s prior glory, legalize marijuana and bring our industries back.
Marijuana was outlawed for two major reasons. The first was because “All Mexicans are crazy and marijuana is what makes them crazy.” The second was the fear that heroin addiction would lead to the use of marijuana – exactly the opposite of the modern “gateway” nonsense.
Only one MD testified at the hearings for the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937. The representative of the American Medical Association said there was no evidence that marijuana was a dangerous drug and no reason for the law. He pointed out that it was used in hundreds of common medicines at the time, with no significant problems. In response, the committee told him that, if he wasn’t going to cooperate, he should shut up and leave.
The only other “expert” to testify was James C. Munch, a pharmacologist. His sole claim to fame was that he had injected marijuana directly into the brains of 300 dogs and two of them died. When they asked him what he concluded from this, he said he didn’t know what to conclude because he wasn’t a dog psychologist. Mr. Munch also testified in court, under oath, that marijuana could make your fangs grow six inches long and drip with blood. He also said that, when he tried it, it turned him into a bat. He then described how he flew around the room for two hours.
Mr. Munch was the only “expert” in the US who thought marijuana should be illegal, so they appointed him US Official Expert on marijuana, where he served and guided policy for 25 years.
If you read the transcripts of the hearings, one question is asked more than any other: “What is this stuff?” It is quite apparent that Congress didn’t even know what they were voting on. The law was shoved through by a small group of lunatics with no real awareness by anyone else of what was happening.
See http://druglibrary.org/schaffer/History/whiteb1.htm for an entertaining short history of the marijuana laws.
See http://druglibrary.org/schaffer/hemp/taxact/taxact.htm for the complete transcripts of the hearings for the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937.
The question of what to do about drugs is not a new one. Over the last 100 years there have been numerous major government commissions around the world that have studied the drug laws and made recommendations for changes. You can find the full text of all of them at http://druglibrary.org/schaffer under Major Studies of Drugs and Drug Policy.
They all reached remarkably similar conclusions, no matter who did them, or where, or when, or why. They all agreed that the current laws were based on ignorance and nonsense, and that the current policy does more harm than good, no matter what you assume about the dangers of drugs. You don’t have to take my word for that. Read them yourself.
If you are new to the collection, start with Licit and Illicit Drugs at http://druglibrary.org/schaffer/Library/studies/cu/cumenu.htm That is the best overall review of the drug problem ever written. If you only read one book on the subject, make it that one. It will give you a good summary of what you would learn if you read all the other major reports.
In 1973, President Nixon’s US National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse completed the largest study of the drug laws ever done. At the end of their study, they said the real drug problem was not marijuana, or heroin, or cocaine. The real drug problem, they said, was the ignorance of our public officials who keep spouting off with solutions but have never read the most basic research on the subject.
In a perfect illustration of their point, Nixon refused to read his own commission’s report. The full text can be found at http://druglibrary.org/schaffer/Library/studies/nc/ncmenu.htm
Lol@the DEA rescheduling marijuana, keep dreaming guys, they will fight that to their very last breath as a agency, I am a huge supporter of legalization of cannabis across the board however they are not, it’s the bread and butter that fuels that agency, asking them to reschedule pot is like taking a heroin addict and politely asking them to stop using it…. You can ask all day but without a nudge of support and some treatment it’ll never happen, I hope I’m wrong but it’s the reality that we have seen time and time again, they have continued their raids and prosecutions although they have recently seen some push back from the court system I still can’t see it happening till congress forces it to happen.
While the potential harms of using cannabis are widely publicized (and often exaggerated), little is mentioned of the harms of its prohibition. When making cannabis policy decisions, it would be irresponsible to ignore these harms…and costs.
For this prohibition to be justified it needs to be established that:
1) Cannabis is particularly harmful (at least more than alcohol)
2) The prohibition will significantly reduce problematic usage
And:
3) The direct and indirect costs of this prohibition to an American society need to be less than any gains from 1 and 2 (don’t underestimate the value we place on freedom and liberty)
None of these 3 requirements have ever been established. After decades of research, the relative safety and medical efficacy of cannabis have been established well enough to conclude that it is significantly less harmful and more useful than alcohol. The vast majority of preventable harms related to cannabis are caused by the very laws that are supposed to “protect us” from it. Some of these harms are:
•Increased deaths of countless people involved on all sides of the “war”, including those of law enforcement and bystanders
•The spending of 100’s of billions of our dollars seeking out, arresting, prosecuting, and incarcerating otherwise law-abiding citizens
•The loss of billions in tax revenue from cultivation, distribution, and sales, which can be used for all substance abuse treatment
•The redirection of valuable police time and resources from solving and preventing true crime
•The filling of our jails with non-violent offenders, exposing them to true criminals and forcing the early release of dangerous criminals
•All sales, over 10 million pounds per year, are unregulated and placed in the hands of people who never check ID, many of them hardened criminals
•The empowerment and expansion of underground markets as a very popular substance is placed within them
•Increased violent crime as dealers and buyers have no legal recourse to resolve disputes
•Increased exposure to hard drugs as many cannabis consumers buy from suppliers who have access to them, even push them
•Increased likelihood of contamination with anything from harmful pesticides and molds to other drugs
•The prevention of some adults from choosing a recreational substance less harmful than alcohol
•The notion that all illegal drugs are particularly dangerous is weakened
•Increased corruption within the legal system
•The invasion of our civil liberties, which in America we hold in especially high regard
•The prevention of people from receiving effective medicine
•The prevention of people from receiving decent employment, scholarship money, and student aid due to their “criminal” record, which affects not just them but their family as well
•Families are torn apart as members are imprisoned or children taken away in the name of “protecting them”
•Increased support of tremendous multinational criminal networks
•Increased public mistrust, disrespect, and disdain for our legal system, police, and government, which is devastating to our country
Considering these great costs, it is unreasonable to continue this policy against a substance objectively less harmful than alcohol. Why are we forcing police to deal with something that is, if anything, a minor public health issue? Why are we criminalizing people for something that has been safely enjoyed by millions of Americans for decades, something that a majority of Americans believe should be legalized recreationally?
Cannabis prohibition is a travesty of justice based on irrational fears and paranoia from an archaic era that needs to end now. Cannabis must be legalized and regulated similar to alcohol. Prohibition policies do not work for popular things that are safely enjoyed by many…especially not in a country that values liberty, justice, and freedom.
A vote to end cannabis prohibition is a vote to condemn a costly prohibition that causes more harm than it prevents.
Please urge your legislators to implement a cannabis policy similar to that of alcohol. Consider what the following cannabis legalization organizations have to say. Help end this harmful, unjust, unfounded, unpopular, un-American prohibition by joining their mailing lists, signing their petitions and writing your legislators when they call for it.
MPP – The Marijuana Policy Project – http://www.mpp.org/
DPA – Drug Policy Alliance – http://www.drugpolicy.org/
NORML – National Organization to Reform Marijuana Laws – http://norml.org/
LEAP – Law Enforcement Against Prohibition – http://www.leap.cc/
The only thing that cannabis prohibition successfully prohibits is effective regulation.
LSD and heroin aren’t responsible for thousands of deaths. I think heroin killed a whopping 400 last year. No one has ever overdosed on LSD. Very poorly written article.
If we could look past the current federal status of cannabis,I am curious why a person whom is growing and cultivating cannabis for personal use is considered a criminal. They also have security to ensure their is no public access. Let’s also assume when they use cannabis they are in their home, and being responsible with their actions while their inhibited.
Who are they harming in such a regard that they should be considered criminal?
Yes, but then they would have to end the War on Drugs which would mean lowering taxes. Not gonna happen.