VOICE OF REASON ON PROHIBITION

Congressman Barney Frank Takes Stand for Freedom

When this page and Rep. Barney Frank of Massachusetts can find common
ground on an issue, it's likely an issue that has broad popular
appeal. That's the situation with legislation Frank introduced this
summer that would essentially decriminalize small amounts of marijuana
for personal use. It's refreshing to see a politician from either
major party not only speak out about the issue, but actually push
legislation to make a difference.

H.R. 2943, The Personal Use of Marijuana by Responsible Adults Act of
would remove federal criminal penalties for possession of three and a
half ounces or less of pot, according to a report in Reason magazine.
It also would allow the not-for-profit transfer of an ounce or less to
another adult.

Frank's bill reflects a changing mood in the country. As recently as
five years ago most national polls showed little public support for
decriminalizing marijuana. Polls taken in the past year, however, have
shown approval increasing, with a Zogby survey indicating a more than
70 percent approval rating. The public is realizing it's a waste of
resources to harass pot smokers; now it seems some in government are
coming to the same conclusion.

It's not an easy row for Frank and his co-sponsors to hoe. Some
critics of the bill mischaracterize it as government endorsing drug
use. They have a bizarre view of the world. Frank is the voice of
reason on this point as well. "To those who say that the government
should not be encouraging the smoking of marijuana, my response is
that I completely agree," Frank said in a statement when he introduced
the bill. "But it is a great mistake to divide all human activity into
two categories: those that are criminally prohibited, and those that
are encouraged."

That statement is a good summary of how many people view government's
role in our lives. By not restricting citizens' freedom to do
something, government isn't necessarily supporting the choices people
make. It's simply acknowledging that people have the right to decide
how they will act.

For too many people, including government policy makers, freedom is
the citizens' right to choose actions approved by government. Here's a
news flash, folks: if you need permission from government to do
something that harms no one but yourself, you're not really free. True
freedom is the right to choose from any actions that don't harm the
rights of others, even if the majority opinion is that such action is
harmful to the individual taking it. H.R. 2943 acknowledges that by
getting the feds out of at least a small part of the drug prohibition
business.

Implementing such a law just makes sense. As Aaron Houston, a
spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project said in support of the
bill, "Calls for rethinking our marijuana policies are coming from all
quarters, and for good reason. Our decades-long war on marijuana has
given us the worst of all possible worlds -- a drug that's widely used
and universally available but produced and sold entirely by
unregulated criminals who obey no rules and pay no taxes."

Our nation tried prohibition once before, realized the mistake of
trying to control people's behavior, and rectified the problem after
about a dozen years. Drug prohibition has been with us for decades
with about the same results as alcohol prohibition. It's time to learn
from our mistakes and move on. Frank's H.R. 2943 is a step in that
direction.