POPULAR OPINION SHOULDN'T RULE ON MARIJUANA

Criminal laws change from time to time for a number of reasons.
Sometimes legislation is enacted to keep pace with the reprehensible
conduct of people who were enabled by the advent of new technology.
Laws that prohibit cyber-stalking and sexting are a couple of recent
ones that come to mind. Other legislation is enacted to reflect
changing societal norms and values as it relates to public welfare and
safety. Examples include laws that prohibit smoking in restaurants and
laws that mandate the wearing of seat belts while driving.

A completely different type of legislative change can occur when
existing ordinances and statutes are repealed. This can occur whenever
a statute is ruled unconstitutional. For example: This may happen as a
result of a case under review by the United States Supreme Court
involving a local ordinance in the city of Chicago that bans the
possession of handguns in that jurisdiction. Statutes also can be
repealed as a result of changing societal norms. One such example is
the repeal of existing state statutes and local ordinances that
prohibit the possession of marijuana.

Led by California, many states throughout America already have
repealed strict laws that prohibit possession of marijuana and have
enacted legislation that permits such possession for medicinal
purposes. A recent article in USA Today reported there are now tens of
thousands of people in California who have obtained a doctor's
recommendation to use marijuana to treat everything from cancer to
arthritis. The article also noted that recent polls disclosed that
almost half the people in America favored decriminalization of
existing marijuana laws, and that eight out of 10 favored making
possession of marijuana for medical purposes legitimate.

There are bills under consideration in 14 more states, including
Illinois, which would legalize possession of marijuana for medicinal
purposes. And, as you might expect, California is once again leading
the country by considering a bill that would legalize possession of
marijuana by anyone 21 years of age or older for medicinal and
recreational purposes.

Given the change in public attitude about possession of marijuana and
the very critical need for more tax revenue throughout the country,
especially in states like Illinois and California, I suspect that
legalization of marijuana in one form or another is inevitable. Is
that the best course of action? The deputy director of the White House
Office of National Drug Control Policy has been quoted as stating, "We
have the safest medications in the world and it's not a coincidence.
We have an enviable process by which we approve medications, and
that's through the Food and Drug Administration. It's a bad idea to
approve medication by popular vote."

I agree.

Tell me what you think. Contact me at diald@naperville.il.us and let
me know about your attitudes as they relate to the legalization of
marijuana. Recognizing this will be an unscientific poll, I will let
you know the results in a future column.

Be safe and have a great week.