Legalizing marijuana protects public safety

[Reca]

From the Pages of American Police Beat.
http://www.apbweb.com/featured-artic...c-safety-.html





Legalizing marijuana protects public safety Written by Neill Franklin & Norm Stamper
The current and former White House drug czars unwittingly reveal the profound weakness of the case for continuing marijuana prohibition by relying on tired "reefer madness" hyperbole. As law enforcement veterans with a combined 68 years of police experience, we'd like to outline the many compelling reasons to support legalizing and regulating marijuana through measures like California's Proposition 19. The bottom line is straightforward: Proposition 19 is not about the right to get high. It's about public safety. We are just two of the growing number of law enforcement professionals who understand that it's prohibition that causes just about all our problems with marijuana - not the plant itself.
The violence, the enrichment of criminals, the wasted police resources, the alarmingly widespread access our kids have to the drug - all of these result from prohibition. The clear answer is to regulate marijuana similar to the way we do alcohol. Research has consistently shown that it is easier for kids to obtain marijuana than it is to buy beer.
That's because alcohol is legal and age-regulated. On the other hand, illegal marijuana dealers don't ask for ID. As front-line cops, we've seen the impact of the war on marijuana at close range. We have futilely worked alongside many talented professionals to enforce laws that can never work.
We have seen some of these brave cops die in the line of fire because of these policies. And for what? Today, marijuana remains available to anyone who wants it, and vicious drug cartels are reaping 65 to 70 percent of their enormous profits from marijuana alone.
More than 28,000 people have been killed in Mexico over the last four years as the result of turf wars over unregulated drug markets. By contrast, the number of deaths resulting from violent clashes over regulated beer and liquor markets is zero. There are no wine cartels growing grapes in our national parks.
No level of law enforcement skill and resources can end the carnage inherent in illegal markets for easily available products that many people want. It's a lesson we should have learned from the failure of alcohol prohibition. We can change all this by passing measures like Proposition 19.
When we regulate marijuana, it will be harder for kids to obtain. We will reduce violent gang wars and will slash the lavish funding of cartels in Mexico from the tax-free proceeds of California's biggest cash crop.
Law enforcement will be able to focus on preventing and solving robberies, murders, assaults, rapes, domestic violence, impaired driving and terrorism when we are no longer making 60,000 marijuana arrests a year in California alone - that's nearly 200 every day of the year.
These issues were missing from the piece by the drug czars because they have no answer to the grim realities of prohibition.
This November, Californians have a chance to say "no more" to decades of failed policy. Proposition 19 will enable police across the state to focus on what's important and to be more effective.
It deserves law enforcement's energetic support.
Neill Franklin and Norm Stamper are members of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP - Law Enforcement Against Prohibition - Cops Say Legalize Drugs). Franklin, a 34-year veteran cop, led anti-narcotics task forces for the Maryland State Police and did narcotics training for the Baltimore Police Department. Stamper was a police officer in San Diego for 28 years before serving as Seattle's chief of police for six years.

[Reca]

This seems to be such a hot topic I would love to see what people think about this article.


I personally think that Marijuana should not be legalized. Please give us your feedback on this topic

[Five-0]

I don''t think the federal govenment should have any say in the legality of this drug or any other. Hell I don't think the federal govenment should be telling states at what age people can legally buy, possess, and drink alcohol. That is the 10th Amendment in me. This is bigger to me than the one individual issue. Let the states decide what is legal and illegal within their own respective jurisdictions. Do I want it to be legal where I live, no. Do I think it would be legalized in AL if the above was the way it is decided, no. If some other state legalized it they could be the great experiement. If it works, good for them. Do I think it will, no. If it goes to shit, well that is their problem. If it is legalized you will still have unlicensed growers and a black market for it. Moonshine, bath tub gin, ect. tastes like crap so it can't compare to my Gentleman Jack. What would be the incentive for the pot user to pay for taxed pot when they can get unlicensed/untaxed pot cheaper? There would be no noticable difference in the end product. Simple economics.

[BigDawg]

Do I think legalizing Marijuana is the magic "pill" for all the problems connected to it now? NO! The drug cartels arent just going to go, "Damn its legal guess were out of business, guess Ill go apply at Mcdonalds." They will cut the government price and continue to black market their product. They already have the network in place to produce, ship, and sell it. All they need to do is adjust their price and profit margin.

[pgg]

Do I think legalizing Marijuana is the magic "pill" for all the problems connected to it now? NO! The drug cartels arent just going to go, "Damn its legal guess were out of business, guess Ill go apply at Mcdonalds." They will cut the government price and continue to black market their product. They already have the network in place to produce, ship, and sell it. All they need to do is adjust their price and profit margin.

This is exactly what I see happening. Politicians here are already talking about massive taxes they are going to impose on it. Are they going to increase LE to go to inspections of every house hold to see if they have their tax stamps for plants? All the dealers have to do is sell it just a little bit under the state rate. What about all the problems we will have down the road with mental health and physical health issues?

[IMGreat101]

"Damn its legal guess were out of business, guess Ill go apply at Mcdonalds."

That would be a great career opportunity if it were legalized.

What about all the problems we will have down the road with mental health and physical health issues?

Then I could put my post grad degree in psych to good use.



The only word I can think of for this would be "medical". If it really is a relief for cancer patients or people with chronic pain.

And, step up the enforcement/controls on the trafficking and or source.

[pgg]

That would be a great career opportunity if it were legalized.





Then I could put my post grad degree in psych to good use.



The only word I can think of for this would be "medical". If it really is a relief for cancer patients or people with chronic pain.

And, step up the enforcement/controls on the trafficking and or source.

If they want to call it a "medicine" then they need to treat it as such. A legitimate doctor, who presribes it and in what fashion it is consumed. They go to a pharmacy to obtain it. They have follow up visits with their doc and then its use is discontinued once the objective is achieved.

[lewisipso]

That would be great if the doctors wouldn't be in on illegal use. "Pain management" clinics have popped up all over the place in La. Legalized abuse. I would not want to see it legalized but it probably will be somewhere eventually.

[Ductus Exemplo]

Not a fan of the idea and I definitely don't see how marijuana promotes public safety. In fact, marijuana is known to impair judgment and the impairment fluctuates over as much as a month or more from the initial exposure. I also fail to see how legalizing it makes cops any safer in the course of their duties.

When there is no consequence for smoking marijuana, people who were hesitant to do it at one time (due to fear of consequence) may be more apt to try it. Judgment will no doubt be impaired. More accidents, more kids becoming emotionally dependent on the drug and subsequently making more poor decisions. Legalizing it will not solve the drug problem. Drugs are not killing cops its the users and dealers. They will always be around whether marijuana is legalized or not. Dealers will continue to deal because it is profit. It has nothing to do with them wanting people to have access to marijuana. 1 Timothy 6:10 "For the love of money is the root of all evil..." - This is the real problem.

[ISPTI]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-slZNNxk9a4]YouTube - Family Guy - Stoned Reporters[/ame]

[SPD]

So - we want to legalize marijuana, huh? Great thinking.

How much money is spent on villifying tobacco use every year because of the long-term effects of it? Now, the government that spends millions telling everyone how evil cigarettes are is going to turn around and make it legal to smoke another substance that is worse for you both in the long and short term? Little bit of BSing going on there and somewhat of a mixed message, huh?

Also - it's harder to get beer than weed? Are you fucking joking? What an enormous crock of shit. Go to any college town. Every single 19 year old is at a party where there's beer. Not particularly difficult to get it, since there is a known, widespread distribution system for it, and every store has it. Weed - gotta go find a dealer. Are there dealers? Sure - but not at every gas station. Again, someone is FOS.

The drug cartels are going to be the drug cartels no matter what's legal where. Legalizing marijuana will not change anything except making it MUCH more readily available to anyone who wants it, and it will become more socially acceptable because "it's legal". It will create more problems than it will solve.

Neill and Norm need to quit getting high. It's making them stupid. They no longer seem to have a firm grasp of the obvious.

[cwtlady]

I'm not a fan of legalizing marijuana. (maybe I'll post more on that later...)

I understand trying to beat chronic pain, I have Fibromyalgia and arthritis so I know how hard it can be to deal with pain on a daily basis. For me, I don't want to go anywhere near marijuana. I just don't believe it's that great for fighting pain. There has to be something better. Also, I'm not so sure there wouldn't be unpleasant physical side-effects (as there are with all meds) that many people didn't bargain for, something to look into.

[countybear]

From a 'war' on drugs to a "hell, just let them have it, since we'll never win and it takes up too much of our time..." attitude.

My how the world is changing...

[SteelCityK9Cop]

We as a society can’t handle booze in a responsible manner and were gonna try adding the chronic?? What great job security.