Reefer Renaissance?

Hurray Barney Frank, and (though I never thought I’d say this) Hurray Ron Paul. Why? Because they, along with some other legislators, have introduced a bill, HR 2306, entitled, Ending Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act of 2011.

This crazy coalition, I mean bi-partisan group, means to give the states power to regulate, tax or prohibit pot. The federal government’s role would be reduced to preventing the importation of marijuana to states that prohibit it. Mr Frank believes it should be legal. He thinks adults should have the freedom to make a choice without fear of prosecution. So do I.

We should have figured out the cost of criminalizing a substance that is widely used and enjoyed, and has been since 7000 BC, from our ill-considered attempt to prohibit alcohol. Can you say Al Capone?

The reasons for de-criminalizing pot are limitless, but here are a few. Lots of lies have been told about cannabis, hemp, pot, weed, grass, or marijuana, as the government likes to call it. The original laws criminalizing pot were based on outrageous misinformation. Remember Reefer Madness? The campaigns against hemp claimed that smoking pot led to mania and mayhem.

The first drug czar, Henry Anslinger, asserted, “You smoke a joint, and you’re likely to kill your brother,” or, “Marijuana is the most violence-causing drug in the history of mankind.” Really? Most folks I know have a hard time getting up off the sofa after smoking grass.

A few more reasons: federal drug laws tend to result in the incarceration of racial minorities and the criminalizing of millions; cannabis is no more harmful than alcohol or cigarettes; smoking it is a victimless crime; and another compelling reason to legalize pot is the savings to society.

Jeffrey Miron is an economist from Harvard and a Cato Institute fellow with multiple degrees from Ivy League Universities. Some people might hold that against the guy. Not me. I’m totally impressed. He studied the impact of legalizing all drugs, not just marijuana. He found we’d save 41.3 billion dollars a year in law enforcement costs, and by regulating and taxing the drugs, we could add to government coffers an astounding 47.7 billion a year.

Think of it, we could add billions a year to education. The federal budget for education for 2011 is 148.6 billion dollars, down from 2010, but more than is projected for the future. Or we could restore some of the cuts to social services, or invest in the infrastructure, or in medical research.

We can’t afford to continue the insane war on drugs and people who use them. Contact your representative and ask him or her to support HR 2306.

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About Myra

I'm retired in Costa Rica, having lived in Philly, State College, Salem Mass, and Kawagoe Japan. You might call me a career gypsy, but my last and best job was teaching English to some of the best and brightest kids in Philly. I'm new to blogging and websites, and will probably make all the mistakes there are, but now I'm sharing my writing. I moved to Costa Rica in June of 2009 with my husband Jack, my dog Buddha, and Jack's two cats, Hobbes and Noir.
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1 Response to Reefer Renaissance?

  1. little bro george says:

    you should send this to a mag. might wake someone up

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