BAGGIE MADNESS

Drug War Takes Another Turn To The Ridiculous

Anyone who has seen the 1936 anti-drug movie "Tell Your Children,"
more commonly known as "Reefer Madness," knows the ridiculous levels
the powers that be will go to in their attempts to keep Americans from
using a product that harms no one but themselves. The movie follows
the destructive paths of several young people who become "addicted" to
marijuana through wild parties thrown by pushers.

One scene has a young man, reefer tucked into to corner of his mouth,
wildly pounding out jazz tunes.

The more he puffs, the wilder the music gets and the crazier the look
in his eyes. It's actually quite comical.

Looking back on the movie with the knowledge we have today of the
effects of marijuana, "Tell Your Children" is more of a joke than a
cautionary tale about the dangers of drug use. We have a feeling later
generations will think the same thing about some of the ways
governments attempt to fight the drug war today.

A cold sufferer can't stop by the corner drug store and pick up the
most effective decongestant without jumping through hoops.

One of the most popular brands contains a key ingredient in cooking
methamphetamine and the feds have restricted the amount a person can
buy at one time, so stores keep it behind the pharmacy counter and
make people ask for it. In place for a few years now, the restrictions
haven't lowered the amount of meth on the streets.

Most of the drug in the U.S. comes from large factories in Mexico. One
possible benefit, though, could be a reduction in the number of toxic
meth labs in our neighborhoods. But as an effective tool in reducing
U.S. drug use, it has been a failure.

Another government attempt to cut down on drug use has been laws that
ban the sale of "drug paraphernalia," objects whose main or only
purpose is to help get drugs, often marijuana, into one's body.
Decades ago, even small cities had several stores that sold marijuana
pipes, bongs, roach clips and other "drug paraphernalia." After the
bans went into effect, pot use in the United States dropped to almost
zero as stoners had to give up their drug of choice because there was
no way to smoke it. What's that? Pot smoking didn't go away? Say it
ain't so, Joe.

Of course it didn't. Users simply found other common objects that
could be used as delivery systems or bought what they needed on the
black market, where a thriving business keeps pot smokers well
supplied with what they need. Spring clips for holding marijuana
cigarettes are readily available at businesses all over this country.

They're called hardware stores and there's probably one in your
neighborhood. Banning things doesn't keep them from people who want
them. But governments never seem to learn this lesson.

Chicago's City Council is considering a ban on the use sale and
possession of tiny self-sealing plastic bags often used to package
small quantities of drugs.

According to a news report in the Chicago Sun-Times, Alderman Robert
Fioretti got the idea for the ban after he picked up a dozen or so
bags off the ground in a stroll through a city park. He wrote the
ordinance and is guiding it through the City Council. Language in the
proposal would outlaw "self-sealing plastic bags under two inches in
either height or width." There are so many things wrong with this idea
it's difficult to know where to start.

Setting aside the previously mentioned fact that bans don't work, the
next problem is that the law would be easy to circumvent by using
other bags on the market.

Popular snack-sized bags are large enough to skirt the ban and small
enough to work for a dealer's purposes.

Or full-size sandwich bags could be cut down and sealed in other ways.
A blogger discussing the issue on one site wrote that now he'd have to
start buying his drugs in larger quantities.

One council member expressed concern that innocent people could be
caught up in the ban. He told the members that similar bags are used
to hold extra buttons and jewelry.

We note that crafters and other hobbyists use them to store small
items they use. Not to worry, he was told, language in the bill says "
'one reasonably should know that such items will be or are being used'
to package, transfer, deliver or store a controlled substance," the
Sun-Times story said. Store clerks will apparently be asked to be mind
readers and discern the future uses of the bags they sell, and if
they're wrong, they face $1,500 fines.

That's putting a lot of responsibility on someone who is just trying
to make an honest living.

Are they supposed to profile customers: the guy with the suit can buy
them, but not the 20-something wearing a hoodie and his pants so low
you can see his drawers?

On the other hand, now that psychic phone lines are out of business,
maybe this presents a new opportunity for all the outof-work mind
readers out there.

In a stunning display that those running the drug war don't have a
clue, Lt. Kevin Navarro, who heads up the Chicago Police Department's
Narcotics and Gang Unit, called the proposal an " 'important tool' to
go after grocery stores, health food stores and other businesses."
That's a relief, because grocery stores are such an important link in
the drug trade that soccer moms across the country are terrified to
take their wee ones with them on their weekly shopping trips for fear
they'll be forever scarred by this exposure to the drug culture.

Please.

Another council member backed the ban, saying it's a desperate measure
to address what he called "the most destructive force" in the city's
neighborhoods. He almost has it right.

But "the most destructive force" in his city and others isn't drugs;
it's the drug war that drives up the price of drugs and makes dealing
them so attractive to criminal elements. The drug war isn't working.

It's time for officials to stop worrying about being tagged with the
soft-on-crime label and take courageous steps to re-evaluate a failed
policy.