Jim Finnel
Fallen Cannabis Warrior & Ex News Moderator
November's midterm elections included ballot measures in five states that would either legalize or decriminalize marijuana. Even though every measure failed, the results show that a substantial support base for marijuana reform may exist and perhaps is ready to be heard.
In California voters rejected the idea of legalizing and taxing marijuana represented by Proposition 19. However, 46 percent of voters voted in favor of the measure.
Consider the 12 states that have already passed decriminalization legislation, which converts small marijuana-related offenses from criminal offenses to civil infractions or fines.
According to Keene State College Political Science Professor and N.H. State Representative Chuck Weed, throwing marijuana-related offenders in jail for a "victimless crime" is unacceptable.
"It is not unsafe; it hasn't killed anybody. All of the studies suggest that it's certainly less addictive than alcohol, less addictive than tobacco. No one has died from overdoses," Weed said. "Yet, an awful lot of people have their lives ruined because of being thrown in jail, and that isn't appropriate," he added.
Richard Van Wickler, Superintendent of the Cheshire County House of Corrections, said the prohibition of marijuana-as well as all of the other illicit drugs-is a failed policy, causing more problems and harms than it alleviates.
"In my opinion, not only has it not been effective, but it's been a cataclysmic failure and not only for New Hampshire, but for our nation, and also as a global policy," Van Wickler said. "I don't believe that you can find anybody in law enforcement, anybody in the community, anybody anywhere, that would tell you that the war on drugs is a success in any way."
Van Wickler, a member of the drug-reform organization called Law Enforcement Against Prohibition ( LEAP ), said that the organization advocates legalization, comparing America's current drug prohibition to the alcohol prohibition era of 1920 to 1933.
"It was the same experiment-make it illegal and the problems associated will go away. Well, we all know that didn't happen and we learned that prohibition fueled crime," Van Wickler said. "Drugs and drug use is not problem. Prohibition is the problem," he said.
According to Van Wickler, the Drug Enforcement Agency found that 75 percent of gang violence in the United States is over illegal drug marketplace disputes-"the same exact thing Al Capone was doing during alcohol prohibition," he said. "What we learned is, if we legalize the substance, we immediately take the profit away from the criminals, the criminal enterprise, and they're no longer in control."
With any form of prohibition, the $320 billion a year drug industry remains in a criminal marketplace. Because of this, Van Wickler said LEAP does not advocate decriminalization because it doesn't solve prohibitions problems and it "continues to leave the drug market in the hands of criminals."
"LEAP does not advocate the use of drugs. I don't advocate the use of drugs. I don't use drugs. I don't think anybody should use drugs. But, the fact is, if you leave it in the hands of criminals, you're going to consistently have the failures that we've seen over the last 40 years," he said.
According to Van Wickler, some major problems associated with prohibition include the exploding prison population, excessive cost to taxpayers, and a waste of resources.
He said in the United States, 1.8 million people have been arrested for drug offenses, of which 850,000 are estimated to be non-violent offenders.
"The other statistic that's alarming is when you consider that 40 percent of the jails in the United States have been built in the last 25 years. And, violent crime is at a 30-year low," said Van Wickler.
In addition, he said that 50 percent of all criminal justice resources go toward the drug war. "But, we don't fight rape, armed robbery, extortion, embezzlement, or obesity to that degree," he said.
He also said that the United States is less committed to promoting education as it is committed to the "war on drugs." Given the fact that the State of California built 21 new prisons over a five-year period while building only one new university over the same period, he said the United States concentrates about $70 billion a year on building correctional systems.
"If you say, 'I don't use drugs. My kids don't use drugs. My friends don't use drugs. Why should I care about the drug war? The answer is, you're paying for it," he said.
LEAP, according to Van Wickler, advocates for all out legalization and government regulation to take the drug market away from the criminal enterprises and to create a safer path for users to find and use the drugs. By legalizing, he also said he thinks jails would be far less congested and taxes would be cut dramatically.
"We know that 12 percent of the people that are incarcerated committed their crime for the sole purpose they needed money for drugs. So if drugs were affordable, regulated, clean, and people could access them, it is a safe assumption that 12 percent of the people that are in prison today wouldn't be. Now you've got the 850,000 that you arrest for possession that would not be there. So quickly you can see the impact of what legalization would do," he said.
"We have to suppose that throughout the history of the world, there's been a percentage of the population that has a propensity to get wasted. That percentage has been constant. There's something about altering our consciousness that, as a population, a percentage of us are going to do, regardless of what the laws are," Van Wickler said."I propose we accept that as a cultural norm-that a percentage of the population is going to have a propensity to use these substances. If we're humane about it, then we should provide a clean, regulated substance," he said.
Dr. Peter Stevenson, a KSC sociology professor and former law enforcement official, said that the enforcement aspects involved in keeping marijuana prohibited seem to be a "waste of resources."
"We've increased enforcement. We've increased penalties. What have we gotten for that? Nothing, really," said Stevenson, a proponent of marijuana law reform. "The war on drugs, especially with marijuana has sort of failed," he said.
Besides clogging America's jails, taking time and dedication from enforcement agencies, and casually incinerating American taxpayers' money, Stevenson said the war on drugs hasn't produced a substantial return to its investors.
According to a 2005 report by The Sentencing Project, an estimated $600 million of taxpayers' money is spent annually to keep marijuana offenders in prison. Also according to the report, nearly 90 percent of the estimated 27,900 people in state and federal prison sentenced over a marijuana violation have no history of violence. According to an Associated Press article published in May 2010, the U.S. government has dedicated $121 billion to arrest more than 37 million nonviolent drug offenders since 1970, of which 10 million offenders were arrested for possessing marijuana. Last year, half of all federal prisoners were serving sentences for drug convictions. The Associated Press also reported that $450 billion was spent since 1970 just to keep those predominantly nonviolent, first-time drug offenders in federal prisons.
"I'm more along the line of just outright legalization. You should probably just be able to do whatever you want," Stevenson said.
What stands in the way? Stevenson said he thinks that a generation of people, specifically law enforcement officials, was trained to hate drugs. By adhering to their sworn oath to protect the state constitution, those "drug warriors" remain vehemently allied against marijuana reform. However, he also said the police officers that do come to realize that the law is faulty are often pressured into staying silent because of fears that speaking out will hurt their careers.
"I think privately, a lot of cops are for some kind of reform, but they won't say anything because they won't get promoted," said Stevenson. "Most cops take their sworn oath to enforce the constitution very seriously even though they might not like what they're doing."
John Stewart, Keene Police officer and KSC's liaison to the police department said he thinks that decriminalizing marijuana in Keene would cause more problems, especially among Keene's younger demographic.
"I think it's going to be more of an impact on the younger kids who don't understand what the ramifications are from smoking marijuana," Stewart said.
According to a 2006 state drug profile done by the Office of National Drug Control Policy ( ONDCP ), more than half of 11th and 12th grade New Hampshire students said that they had tried marijuana at least once in their lifetime. From the same study, nearly 45 percent of all high school students-grades 9 to 12-say that they've tried marijuana at least once.
Stewart also said that decriminalization efforts in Keene would cause people to use it more frequently and use it more publicly."I think it would probably cause more problems because people would engage in it more. People would do it more openly," he said.
Then again, there have been studies finding that decriminalizing marijuana did not impact the rate of use. For example, a 1999 report in the Journal of Public Health Policy documented the effects of marijuana decriminalization on 11 states that reduced the offense to a fine between 1973 and 1978.
The study, authored by Eric Single, concluded that decriminalization had no impact on rates of use, but "substantially reduced the costs associated with the enforcement of marijuana laws."
Up to this point, no state governments have passed legislation that legalizes marijuana. However, 12 states have passed decriminalization bills and 15 states allow medicinal marijuana treatments. Neighboring states such as Maine, Massachusetts, and New York are some of the states that have already decriminalized marijuana.
Before the most recent attempt to decriminalize marijuana was defeated last year in the State Senate, the New Hampshire legislature rejected a similar decriminalization bill as well as a medical marijuana bill in 2008-all of which included similar veto threats from Governor John Lynch. For now, the possession of marijuana will remain a criminal offense, which makes it difficult for convicted marijuana offenders to find a good job and access financial aid for college.
According to Stewart, however, when he encounters a marijuana-related offender, the penalties are dependent on a number of criteria. Things like the history of the offender, the amount of marijuana in possession, and the circumstances surrounding the arrest determine how heavy the punishment will be.
"It depends on the totality of the circumstances. For example, I've gone to dorm rooms where the kid is like, 'Hey, this is what I have. I'm sorry.' That is going to weigh in on the outcome versus the person who refuses to cooperate," Stewart said.
"The last thing we want to do is charge someone with marijuana because it's a criminal offense," he said. "It screws up the rest of their lives because then they have to check off, 'Yes, I've been arrested for drugs' on applications."
Consequences on the federal level also include the Higher Education Act's "one-strike and you're out" rule regarding convicted drug offenders' access to federal student aid. However, Stewart said he thinks people deserve a second chance.
"I'm of the viewpoint that everybody falls down. I don't agree with the 'one-strike, you're out.' I think that there are different circumstances," he said.
"I think it should be maybe 'two-strikes your out' instead of one. We should at least say, 'You fell down. Get back up. Move in the right direction.' Then again, if the federal government is going to give you money, you have to follow the rules," Stewart said.
According to Stevenson, one of the major reasons that marijuana prohibition will continue is the fact that corporate interests are at stake. "Alcohol and tobacco companies have better lobby groups. That's what it boils down to. These are corporate interests and corporations are going to protect their interests," he said.
"If it weren't for the tobacco farmers, we wouldn't be sitting here today talking about marijuana decriminalization," he said.
Van Wickler agreed, saying, "The largest drug dealer in the State of New Hampshire is the State of New Hampshire because they own and control all of the liquor stores. When you cross into New Hampshire, the first sign that you see is 'Don't drink and drive.' The first building you see is a liquor store. Any road that you take coming into New Hampshire, that's the deal," he said.
"In New Hampshire, that's state revenue. They're not going to give it up," Van Wickler said.
NewsHawk: User: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: Equinox, The (NH Edu)
Copyright: 2010 The Equinox
Contact: equinox@keene.edu
Website: " Equinox, The (NH Edu)"
Details: MapInc
Author: Andrew Reynolds
In California voters rejected the idea of legalizing and taxing marijuana represented by Proposition 19. However, 46 percent of voters voted in favor of the measure.
Consider the 12 states that have already passed decriminalization legislation, which converts small marijuana-related offenses from criminal offenses to civil infractions or fines.
According to Keene State College Political Science Professor and N.H. State Representative Chuck Weed, throwing marijuana-related offenders in jail for a "victimless crime" is unacceptable.
"It is not unsafe; it hasn't killed anybody. All of the studies suggest that it's certainly less addictive than alcohol, less addictive than tobacco. No one has died from overdoses," Weed said. "Yet, an awful lot of people have their lives ruined because of being thrown in jail, and that isn't appropriate," he added.
Richard Van Wickler, Superintendent of the Cheshire County House of Corrections, said the prohibition of marijuana-as well as all of the other illicit drugs-is a failed policy, causing more problems and harms than it alleviates.
"In my opinion, not only has it not been effective, but it's been a cataclysmic failure and not only for New Hampshire, but for our nation, and also as a global policy," Van Wickler said. "I don't believe that you can find anybody in law enforcement, anybody in the community, anybody anywhere, that would tell you that the war on drugs is a success in any way."
Van Wickler, a member of the drug-reform organization called Law Enforcement Against Prohibition ( LEAP ), said that the organization advocates legalization, comparing America's current drug prohibition to the alcohol prohibition era of 1920 to 1933.
"It was the same experiment-make it illegal and the problems associated will go away. Well, we all know that didn't happen and we learned that prohibition fueled crime," Van Wickler said. "Drugs and drug use is not problem. Prohibition is the problem," he said.
According to Van Wickler, the Drug Enforcement Agency found that 75 percent of gang violence in the United States is over illegal drug marketplace disputes-"the same exact thing Al Capone was doing during alcohol prohibition," he said. "What we learned is, if we legalize the substance, we immediately take the profit away from the criminals, the criminal enterprise, and they're no longer in control."
With any form of prohibition, the $320 billion a year drug industry remains in a criminal marketplace. Because of this, Van Wickler said LEAP does not advocate decriminalization because it doesn't solve prohibitions problems and it "continues to leave the drug market in the hands of criminals."
"LEAP does not advocate the use of drugs. I don't advocate the use of drugs. I don't use drugs. I don't think anybody should use drugs. But, the fact is, if you leave it in the hands of criminals, you're going to consistently have the failures that we've seen over the last 40 years," he said.
According to Van Wickler, some major problems associated with prohibition include the exploding prison population, excessive cost to taxpayers, and a waste of resources.
He said in the United States, 1.8 million people have been arrested for drug offenses, of which 850,000 are estimated to be non-violent offenders.
"The other statistic that's alarming is when you consider that 40 percent of the jails in the United States have been built in the last 25 years. And, violent crime is at a 30-year low," said Van Wickler.
In addition, he said that 50 percent of all criminal justice resources go toward the drug war. "But, we don't fight rape, armed robbery, extortion, embezzlement, or obesity to that degree," he said.
He also said that the United States is less committed to promoting education as it is committed to the "war on drugs." Given the fact that the State of California built 21 new prisons over a five-year period while building only one new university over the same period, he said the United States concentrates about $70 billion a year on building correctional systems.
"If you say, 'I don't use drugs. My kids don't use drugs. My friends don't use drugs. Why should I care about the drug war? The answer is, you're paying for it," he said.
LEAP, according to Van Wickler, advocates for all out legalization and government regulation to take the drug market away from the criminal enterprises and to create a safer path for users to find and use the drugs. By legalizing, he also said he thinks jails would be far less congested and taxes would be cut dramatically.
"We know that 12 percent of the people that are incarcerated committed their crime for the sole purpose they needed money for drugs. So if drugs were affordable, regulated, clean, and people could access them, it is a safe assumption that 12 percent of the people that are in prison today wouldn't be. Now you've got the 850,000 that you arrest for possession that would not be there. So quickly you can see the impact of what legalization would do," he said.
"We have to suppose that throughout the history of the world, there's been a percentage of the population that has a propensity to get wasted. That percentage has been constant. There's something about altering our consciousness that, as a population, a percentage of us are going to do, regardless of what the laws are," Van Wickler said."I propose we accept that as a cultural norm-that a percentage of the population is going to have a propensity to use these substances. If we're humane about it, then we should provide a clean, regulated substance," he said.
Dr. Peter Stevenson, a KSC sociology professor and former law enforcement official, said that the enforcement aspects involved in keeping marijuana prohibited seem to be a "waste of resources."
"We've increased enforcement. We've increased penalties. What have we gotten for that? Nothing, really," said Stevenson, a proponent of marijuana law reform. "The war on drugs, especially with marijuana has sort of failed," he said.
Besides clogging America's jails, taking time and dedication from enforcement agencies, and casually incinerating American taxpayers' money, Stevenson said the war on drugs hasn't produced a substantial return to its investors.
According to a 2005 report by The Sentencing Project, an estimated $600 million of taxpayers' money is spent annually to keep marijuana offenders in prison. Also according to the report, nearly 90 percent of the estimated 27,900 people in state and federal prison sentenced over a marijuana violation have no history of violence. According to an Associated Press article published in May 2010, the U.S. government has dedicated $121 billion to arrest more than 37 million nonviolent drug offenders since 1970, of which 10 million offenders were arrested for possessing marijuana. Last year, half of all federal prisoners were serving sentences for drug convictions. The Associated Press also reported that $450 billion was spent since 1970 just to keep those predominantly nonviolent, first-time drug offenders in federal prisons.
"I'm more along the line of just outright legalization. You should probably just be able to do whatever you want," Stevenson said.
What stands in the way? Stevenson said he thinks that a generation of people, specifically law enforcement officials, was trained to hate drugs. By adhering to their sworn oath to protect the state constitution, those "drug warriors" remain vehemently allied against marijuana reform. However, he also said the police officers that do come to realize that the law is faulty are often pressured into staying silent because of fears that speaking out will hurt their careers.
"I think privately, a lot of cops are for some kind of reform, but they won't say anything because they won't get promoted," said Stevenson. "Most cops take their sworn oath to enforce the constitution very seriously even though they might not like what they're doing."
John Stewart, Keene Police officer and KSC's liaison to the police department said he thinks that decriminalizing marijuana in Keene would cause more problems, especially among Keene's younger demographic.
"I think it's going to be more of an impact on the younger kids who don't understand what the ramifications are from smoking marijuana," Stewart said.
According to a 2006 state drug profile done by the Office of National Drug Control Policy ( ONDCP ), more than half of 11th and 12th grade New Hampshire students said that they had tried marijuana at least once in their lifetime. From the same study, nearly 45 percent of all high school students-grades 9 to 12-say that they've tried marijuana at least once.
Stewart also said that decriminalization efforts in Keene would cause people to use it more frequently and use it more publicly."I think it would probably cause more problems because people would engage in it more. People would do it more openly," he said.
Then again, there have been studies finding that decriminalizing marijuana did not impact the rate of use. For example, a 1999 report in the Journal of Public Health Policy documented the effects of marijuana decriminalization on 11 states that reduced the offense to a fine between 1973 and 1978.
The study, authored by Eric Single, concluded that decriminalization had no impact on rates of use, but "substantially reduced the costs associated with the enforcement of marijuana laws."
Up to this point, no state governments have passed legislation that legalizes marijuana. However, 12 states have passed decriminalization bills and 15 states allow medicinal marijuana treatments. Neighboring states such as Maine, Massachusetts, and New York are some of the states that have already decriminalized marijuana.
Before the most recent attempt to decriminalize marijuana was defeated last year in the State Senate, the New Hampshire legislature rejected a similar decriminalization bill as well as a medical marijuana bill in 2008-all of which included similar veto threats from Governor John Lynch. For now, the possession of marijuana will remain a criminal offense, which makes it difficult for convicted marijuana offenders to find a good job and access financial aid for college.
According to Stewart, however, when he encounters a marijuana-related offender, the penalties are dependent on a number of criteria. Things like the history of the offender, the amount of marijuana in possession, and the circumstances surrounding the arrest determine how heavy the punishment will be.
"It depends on the totality of the circumstances. For example, I've gone to dorm rooms where the kid is like, 'Hey, this is what I have. I'm sorry.' That is going to weigh in on the outcome versus the person who refuses to cooperate," Stewart said.
"The last thing we want to do is charge someone with marijuana because it's a criminal offense," he said. "It screws up the rest of their lives because then they have to check off, 'Yes, I've been arrested for drugs' on applications."
Consequences on the federal level also include the Higher Education Act's "one-strike and you're out" rule regarding convicted drug offenders' access to federal student aid. However, Stewart said he thinks people deserve a second chance.
"I'm of the viewpoint that everybody falls down. I don't agree with the 'one-strike, you're out.' I think that there are different circumstances," he said.
"I think it should be maybe 'two-strikes your out' instead of one. We should at least say, 'You fell down. Get back up. Move in the right direction.' Then again, if the federal government is going to give you money, you have to follow the rules," Stewart said.
According to Stevenson, one of the major reasons that marijuana prohibition will continue is the fact that corporate interests are at stake. "Alcohol and tobacco companies have better lobby groups. That's what it boils down to. These are corporate interests and corporations are going to protect their interests," he said.
"If it weren't for the tobacco farmers, we wouldn't be sitting here today talking about marijuana decriminalization," he said.
Van Wickler agreed, saying, "The largest drug dealer in the State of New Hampshire is the State of New Hampshire because they own and control all of the liquor stores. When you cross into New Hampshire, the first sign that you see is 'Don't drink and drive.' The first building you see is a liquor store. Any road that you take coming into New Hampshire, that's the deal," he said.
"In New Hampshire, that's state revenue. They're not going to give it up," Van Wickler said.
NewsHawk: User: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: Equinox, The (NH Edu)
Copyright: 2010 The Equinox
Contact: equinox@keene.edu
Website: " Equinox, The (NH Edu)"
Details: MapInc
Author: Andrew Reynolds
