Sacramento News & Review, 22 Nov 2012 – Re "Marijuana is legal!" by Ngaio Bealum (SN&R The 420, November 15): The voters of Colorado and Washington state have made it clear that the federal government can no longer get away with confusing the drug war’s tremendous collateral damage with a comparatively harmless plant. If the goal of marijuana prohibition is to subsidize violent drug cartels, prohibition is a success. The drug war distorts supply-and-demand dynamics so that big money grows on little trees. If the goal of marijuana prohibition is to deter use, prohibition is a failure. The United States has double the rate of use as the Netherlands, where marijuana is legally available. The criminalization of Americans who prefer marijuana to martinis has no basis in science. The war on marijuana consumers is a failed cultural inquisition, not a public-health campaign. It’s time for politicians to catch up with the people and end marijuana prohibition.
US CO: PUB LTE: Crackdown on Marijuana Dispensaries Benefits
Daily Camera, 05 Oct 2012 – Mexican drug cartels are no doubt thrilled with the Obama Administration’s crackdown on voter-approved medical marijuana dispensaries. So much for change and 2008 campaign promises to respect states’ rights. So much for jobs. The medical marijuana industry is one of the few job creators in the current down economy. If Obama succeeds in destroying the domestic medical marijuana industry, international drug cartels will move in to meet demand and reap the profits. This is basic economics. As long as there is a demand for marijuana, there will be a supply. Replacing domestic growers with organized crime groups that also sell cocaine, meth and heroin is not necessarily a good thing. Marijuana prohibition is a gateway drug policy.
US CO: PUB LTE: Need To Separate Hard And Soft Drug Markets
Summit Daily News, 02 Oct 2012 – Re: "Drug dealers protecting their turf," by David Sirota, column, Sept. 24 Former beer brewer and current hypocrite Gov. John Hickenlooper needs to prioritize children over political messaging. There is a big difference between condoning marijuana use and protecting children from drugs. Decriminalization acknowledges the social reality of marijuana and frees users from the stigma of life-shattering criminal records. What’s really needed is a regulated market with age controls as provided for by Amendment 64. Separating the hard and soft drug markets is critical.
US CA: PUB LTE: Racism Is Integral To Drug Policy
Sacramento News & Review, 27 Sep 2012 – Re "Jim Crow 2012" by Jeff vonKaenel (SN&R Greenlight, September 13): The drug war has been waged in a racist manner since its inception. The Harrison Narcotics Act of 1914 was preceded by a wave of anti-immigrant sentiment. Opium was identified with Chinese laborers, marijuana with Mexicans and cocaine with African-Americans. Racial profiling continues to be the norm, despite similar rates of drug use for minorities and whites. Support for the drug war would end overnight if whites were incarcerated for drugs at the same rate as minorities. The drug war is a cultural inquisition, not a public-health campaign.
US CO: Edu: PUB LTE: Dire Warnings Counterproductive
The Scribe, 24 Sep 2012 – According to drugwarfacts.com, marijuana has never been shown to cause an overdose death, nor does it share the addictive properties of tobacco. Marijuana can be harmful if abused, but jail cells are inappropriate as health interventions and ineffective as deterrents.
US CO: PUB LTE: Legalization and the Social Reality of
Denver Post, 23 Sep 2012 – LEGALIZATION AND THE SOCIAL REALITY OF MARIJUANA Gov. John Hickenlooper needs to prioritize children over political messaging. There is a big difference between condoning marijuana use and protecting children from drugs. Decriminalization acknowledges the social reality of marijuana and frees users from the stigma of life-shattering criminal records. What’s really needed is a regulated market with age controls as provided for by Amendment 64. Separating the hard and soft drug markets is critical.
US CO: PUB LTE: Condoning Pot Use, Protecting Children Different
Fort Collins Coloradoan, 13 Sep 2012 – Regarding Nicholas Lieurance’s Sept. 10 op-ed, there is a big difference between condoning marijuana use and protecting children from drugs. Decriminalization acknowledges the social reality of marijuana and frees users from the stigma of life-shattering criminal records. What’s really needed is a regulated market with age controls as provided for by Amendment 64. Separating the hard and soft drug markets is critical. As long as organized crime controls marijuana distribution, consumers will continue to come into contact with sellers of hard drugs like cocaine and heroin. This "gateway" is a direct result of marijuana prohibition. Drug policy reform may send the wrong message to children, but I like to think the children are more important than the message.
US WA: PUB LTE: Decriminalization And Protecting Children Are
Seattle Times, 13 Sep 2012 – DECRIMINALIZATION AND PROTECTING CHILDREN ARE DIFFERENT There is a big difference between condoning marijuana use and protecting children from drugs ["Children’s Alliance backs pot measure," page one, Sept. 11].
US CA: PUB LTE: Drug War’s To Blame For Mess
Times-Standard, 08 Sep 2012 – If marijuana were fully legal there would be no backyard residential growers cashing in on inflated medical marijuana prices. Legitimate farmers would produce it by the ton at a fraction of the current cost. There is a reason you don’t see Mexican drug cartels sneaking into national forests to cultivate tomatoes and cucumbers. They cannot compete with a legal market. The first marijuana laws were enacted in response to Mexican migration during the early 1900s, despite opposition from the American Medical Association. Dire warnings that marijuana inspires homicidal rages have been counterproductive. White Americans did not even begin to smoke pot until a soon-to-be entrenched federal bureaucracy began funding reefer madness propaganda.
US NJ: PUB LTE: Marijuana Helps Sufferers Feel Better
The Times, 20 Aug 2012 – The implementation of New Jersey’s Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act is long overdue ("Patient registry for medical pot gets under way — First of Jersey’s six dispensaries to open in Montclair next month," Aug. 9). While there have been studies showing that marijuana can shrink cancerous tumors, medical marijuana is essentially a palliative drug. If a doctor recommends marijuana to a cancer patient undergoing chemotherapy and it helps him or her feel better, then it’s working. In the end, medical marijuana is a quality-of-life decision best left to patients and their doctors.
