LEGALIZE POT? HOW ABSURD

If New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson can be credited with anything
worthwhile, it is that he has brought the idea of legalizing marijuana
out into the open where sound reasoning and facts can expose it for
the idiocy it is. No one should be taken in by his illogical
reasoning, no matter how convincing it sounds.

Johnson took center stage last week at the Western Governors
Association meeting in Honolulu and, as he does virtually everywhere
he speaks, immediately launched into the "legalize pot" presentation
with a missionary zeal. "Is it so far-fetched to think that if we
legalize marijuana, use will go down?" he asked. The answer, of
course, is yes. It's not only far-fetched, it's silly.

"Should laws exist that protect us from ourselves?" he asked next.
That's an interesting way to phrase the issue. Here is a better one:
Should laws exist to protect people from substances that can cause
serious harm to their bodies and lead them to do crazy, possibly
dangerous, things? Once a state gives official sanction to the use of
marijuana, ignorant people may easily be led to believe it is an
innocent, harmless diversion. It is not.

Surprisingly, the governor did not invoke the Dutch example. He was
smart to leave it alone. Drug-legalization proponents often refer to
Holland's quarter-century experiment with legalized drugs as an
example of how wonderful society could become. They do so based solely
on conventional wisdom borne by users with clouded minds. The facts
spell complete and unqualified disaster.

Writing in the publication "Foreign Affairs" last year, author Larry
Collins presented a frank and well-documented look at the Dutch
experiment. He found a nation that has become the drug trafficking
center of Europe, where drug use, particularly of marijuana, has
increased and where dealers have developed a new, potent form of the
drug called "Nederwiet" that didn't exist before legalization. He
quotes the director of a Dutch drug-abuse rehabilitation center as
saying, "We see more and more people getting into trouble with
cannabis." A London doctor describes heavy Nederwiet users suffering
withdrawal symptoms similar to those produced by hard drugs.

Between 1984 and 1996, marijuana use among people ages 18 to 25 in
Holland increased by well over 200 percent, Collins writes. Perhaps
New Mexico's governor would like to explain again in detail why he
thinks the opposite would happen here.

Johnson and other legalization hucksters are quick to draw
similarities between marijuana and alcohol. Indeed, both are harmful
drugs. There is a difference, however, in how society perceives them.
Unfortunately, moderate alcohol consumption is culturally acceptable
in much of the United States. However, that is hardly a reason to urge
that the culture accept another harmful drug, as well.

Predictably, the one governor who applauded Johnson was Hawaii's Gov.
Ben Cayetano, who recently signed a law that legalizes marijuana for
medical use in that state -- one of the more absurd examples of
legislative quackery to hit the modern age. Serious researchers
believe marijuana contains certain compounds of medicinal value. But
absolutely none of them recommends smoking the weed as a means of
obtaining any benefit.

States can use drug courts and an emphasis on education and
rehabilitation to help fight substance abuse problems. These have
shown reasonable success. But legalization is nothing more than an
admission of defeat.