@Libby
I agree, but it needs to be done right.
Docs need to prescibe it for specfic illnesses/conditions in certain doses. And rather than it come from grey sources of unknown quality and purity, the stuff needs to be made just like any other medicine in a clean saityary environment.
And then it should be administered in pill or liquid form, rather than have it be smoked which causes its own series of health issues.
Colorado has been doing it right – even recreationally speaking. There are many regulations and rules for the grow facilities and the dispensaries, making the quality and purity MUCH better than the black market system. They have also figured out the impaired driving protocol for it.
It should be treated like alcohol.
The most dangerous drug is alcohol which contributes to many thousands of deaths annually–88,000/year according to the CDC. I find it perplexing that cannabis, a drug which traditionally is not responsible for any deaths, remains a Schedule I substance, while truly dangerous and highly addictive/destructive medicines like Xanax, Oxycontin, Percocet, Amphetamines etc are Schedule II-IV and readily available from most doctors and even prescribed to children as young as five years old. I suspect we all know of at least one person who has destroyed their life by abusing prescription drugs like these–addictions which are increasingly gateways to hard drugs like heroin.
Colorado and Washington state have demonstrated that the sky will not fall, nor will addicts go on violent reefer madness rampages, when personal usage is fully legalized and regulated. In fact, traffic deaths have fallen, violent crime is down, and state coffers are up.
I find myself wondering who truly benefits from the continued prohibition of cannabis. The real beneficiaries seem to be violent drug cartels, the DEA, the prison industry & prison guard unions, police funding (both direct funding and auxiliary funding from asset forfeiture), and the alcohol and pharmaceutical industries.
Our near 100 year old prohibition, originally enacted due to anti-immigrant fears and false claims of murder, insanity and death, has been a miserable failure. Prohibition remains an expensive folly that wastes billions of dollars annually and results in the mass incarceration of individuals at a rate that greatly exceeds the harshest regimes in the world. Prohibition did not work for alcohol, and it has never worked for cannabis.
It is long past time that we have these kinds of discussions in the mainstream, particularly at a time when budgets are tight and deficits are large. Articles like this are but one step in the process. It is a shame that the ‘personal responsibility’ crowd often remains silent when it comes to topics like this.
I agree with your post 100%. I’m not a “user” of alcohol or marijuana, but have always been perplexed by the hypocrisy of our society promoting the one and criminalizing the other. Everyone knows the deaths and destruction caused by alcohol. You don’t hear the same about marijuana.
How many billions have been spent in trying to enforce, arrest, convict, imprison, etc. people involved in the marijuana trade? How much better to legalize, control the production and tax as is done with alcohol? I’d rather the billions go into the revenue stream to help with schools, roads, etc.
I lived in Colorado for 12 years and am proud that they have entered this brave new world of letting adults decide rather than the government.
All the more reason to legalize marijuana.
@Libby
I agree, but it needs to be done right.
Docs need to prescibe it for specfic illnesses/conditions in certain doses. And rather than it come from grey sources of unknown quality and purity, the stuff needs to be made just like any other medicine in a clean saityary environment.
And then it should be administered in pill or liquid form, rather than have it be smoked which causes its own series of health issues.
Colorado has been doing it right – even recreationally speaking. There are many regulations and rules for the grow facilities and the dispensaries, making the quality and purity MUCH better than the black market system. They have also figured out the impaired driving protocol for it.
It should be treated like alcohol.
The most dangerous drug is alcohol which contributes to many thousands of deaths annually–88,000/year according to the CDC. I find it perplexing that cannabis, a drug which traditionally is not responsible for any deaths, remains a Schedule I substance, while truly dangerous and highly addictive/destructive medicines like Xanax, Oxycontin, Percocet, Amphetamines etc are Schedule II-IV and readily available from most doctors and even prescribed to children as young as five years old. I suspect we all know of at least one person who has destroyed their life by abusing prescription drugs like these–addictions which are increasingly gateways to hard drugs like heroin.
Colorado and Washington state have demonstrated that the sky will not fall, nor will addicts go on violent reefer madness rampages, when personal usage is fully legalized and regulated. In fact, traffic deaths have fallen, violent crime is down, and state coffers are up.
I find myself wondering who truly benefits from the continued prohibition of cannabis. The real beneficiaries seem to be violent drug cartels, the DEA, the prison industry & prison guard unions, police funding (both direct funding and auxiliary funding from asset forfeiture), and the alcohol and pharmaceutical industries.
Our near 100 year old prohibition, originally enacted due to anti-immigrant fears and false claims of murder, insanity and death, has been a miserable failure. Prohibition remains an expensive folly that wastes billions of dollars annually and results in the mass incarceration of individuals at a rate that greatly exceeds the harshest regimes in the world. Prohibition did not work for alcohol, and it has never worked for cannabis.
It is long past time that we have these kinds of discussions in the mainstream, particularly at a time when budgets are tight and deficits are large. Articles like this are but one step in the process. It is a shame that the ‘personal responsibility’ crowd often remains silent when it comes to topics like this.
I agree with your post 100%. I’m not a “user” of alcohol or marijuana, but have always been perplexed by the hypocrisy of our society promoting the one and criminalizing the other. Everyone knows the deaths and destruction caused by alcohol. You don’t hear the same about marijuana.
How many billions have been spent in trying to enforce, arrest, convict, imprison, etc. people involved in the marijuana trade? How much better to legalize, control the production and tax as is done with alcohol? I’d rather the billions go into the revenue stream to help with schools, roads, etc.
I lived in Colorado for 12 years and am proud that they have entered this brave new world of letting adults decide rather than the government.