The Senate Race And Marijuana Prohibition

[Weedpipe]

Odd, isn't it, that all the U.S. Senate candidates, and the people who ask them questions trying to elicit their positions on issues people care about, seem to have forgotten that in the last election, a whopping 65 percent of the voters went for marijuana decriminalization?

If that many voters care about the marijuana laws, why do these candidates, who claim to have their fingers on the public pulse, ignore the subject?

What happened in November of 2008 was decriminalization, meaning that now, thanks to the voters, a small amount of pot can't get you arrested and sucked into the criminal justice cybergulag. Decrim curbed the excesses of enforcement, but didn't get at the underlying situation.

The situation is that like it or not, marijuana has become inextricably embedded in our culture. Despite wars against it since Nixon was president, marijuana is ubiquitous and ineradicable.

Any candidate who doesn't accept that postulate has a duty to those 65 percent of the voters to please explain: how many more tax dollars must be thrown at suppressing marijuana, for how many more years, to make it go away? If you do not know or care, Mr. or Ms Candidate, have the courage to admit it.

If you agree that marijuana is ubiquitous and ineradicable, you have a duty to admit this truth, and hence to scrutinize the wisdom and efficacy of prohibition, leading the search for a better way to curb abuse, protect the public health and safety, and eliminate the crime and violence associated with illicit trafficking.

Politicians report little "noise" on this issue, mistaking silence for indifference, not fear. People are justifiably fearful about writing a letter, showing up on a mailing list, even sending an email with the "m" word in it. They have to be very careful about their jobs, their drivers licenses and the kids in school whose parents will talk. But put them in the privacy of a voting booth, and stand back!

The marijuana issue is simple: it is whether we should repeal prohibition, federal and state, or perpetuate it. If we choose to perpetuate it, the question is how we pay for it. A 2003 study from Boston University indicates that enforcing marijuana prohibition costs Massachusetts taxpayers over $120 million annually.

The case for repeal stands not only on the proven injustice and inefficacy of the prohibition laws, but, more urgently, on their obsolescence and unaffordability.

The 900-lb. gorilla in the corner for states is the question of dollars. Early, crude numbers from California suggest $1.4 in new annual revenue for that state. Adjust for population and that means around $230 million for Massachusetts. And that's based on a tax of only $50 per ounce. Since Massachusetts consumers pay many times that figure, the tax could likely be doubled or tripled. And don't forget all the jobs that will be created, and forests saved, when the hemp industry is unshackled. Heck, maybe we won't need casinos!

Is it wise and prudent to ignore the revenue potential of a taxed, regulated market in cannabis?

Upon arrival in Washington, our new senator will have an opportunity to support Congressman Frank's decriminalization bill, or a bill codifying the recent announcement by the Justice Department that it won't be targeting sick people who use medical marijuana under state law. Perhaps he or she will have the courage to lead the quest for changes in federal law so that the Commonwealth and other states can seize this new source of revenue and create new industries.

No living person is responsible for the marijuana prohibition laws. They were conceived three generations ago in a cultural and racial climate far different from our own, and very different from that to which we aspire.

Are we ready for a serious, sober discussion about repeal, without the usual winks, smirks and puns? Can we handle it? Will someone lead it?



News Hawk- Weedpipe http://www.420Magazine.com
Source: The Daily News Tribune
Author: Richard M. Evans
Contact: Homepage - Waltham, MA - The Daily News Tribune
Copyright: 2009 GateHouse Media, Inc
Website:Evans: The Senate race and marijuana prohibition - Waltham, MA - The Daily News Tribune

[michaelkaer]

We were born into that fear that you talked about, so it feels like second nature. I have to be much more open and deal with my own fear, and by doing so, I, Like Marc Emery,can start acting like I live in a free society again. Even in Jail, Marc is free in his mind. We did not start this but we can and will end it. the sooner that is done the better. What part of this does the politicians do not get?

[sicntired]

Obama,in spite of getting more questions about marijuana legalization than anything else treated it like a joke and laughed it off.This in spite of his having used both marijuana and that Columbian marching powder.Who indeed?