RESTORATION NOT RETRIBUTION

Why would a respectable, responsible and caring group of parents want
to legalize marijuana? Because we are fed up with the violence and
the loss of lives and liberty caused by the war on drugs, which has
become a war against our loved ones who use, struggle with, or are
addicted to drugs, and our families. We simply cannot stand for the
continued criminalization and punishment of what is essentially a
public health problem.

We have an opportunity in California now to turn the tide on the drug
war by passing Proposition 19, the Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis
Act of 2010, in November. Moms are uniting and leading the charge to
end marijuana prohibition, just as mothers did to end alcohol
Prohibition in the 1930's. We are demanding an end to the pointless
and punitive criminalization of drug users and the needless deaths
caused by the illegal drug trade. We are joining across the state --
mothers who have lost their children to overdose and parents whose
families have been ravaged by both addiction and incarceration -- in
an effort to promote therapeutic and restorative approaches to drug use.

I have experienced the damages of marijuana prohibition first-hand.
My older son was arrested for marijuana possession in 1990, a minor
charge but one that led to a decade of cycling in and out of the
prison system for non-violent, low-level drug possession charges.
This was a devastating emotional saga for our family, a tremendous
waste of human potential, and an extreme financial burden to the state.

Classifying someone who smokes marijuana as a criminal, or labeling
an addicted person as a villain, not only exacerbates the problem,
but also promotes fear-based stigma and discrimination. It can also
lead to life-long social exclusion. The consequences of a drug
conviction may include loss of even basic public benefits and place
significant limitations on future educational and employment
opportunities. Ultimately, addiction may be easier to overcome than a
criminal record.

Since 1990, the year my son was first arrested, marijuana possession
arrests are up by 127% in California. And, although marijuana use
happens in all of our neighborhoods, African Americans are
disproportionately affected by these tactics of arrest and
imprisonment. How many lives continue to be destroyed by these
misguided policies!

It is nonsensical that marijuana is so targeted and demonized, since
it actually has much fewer harmful effects than alcohol or
cigarettes, both of which are legal for adults. There is no violent
behavior associated with marijuana use, and it does have some
medicinal benefits. Given all this, marijuana prohibition clearly has
much more to do with "tough-on-crime" politics than on reason and science.

Proponents of prohibition say that these policies are designed to
protect children. They don't. Despite the fact that marijuana arrests
have tripled in Californian in the last 20 years, marijuana remains
widely available to young people. Teenagers in high school or junior
high consistently report that marijuana is easier to get a hold of
than either cigarettes or alcohol. Regulating marijuana would mean
that young people have less access, and that law enforcement can
focus on more important public safety matters. It would also allow us
to utilize our dwindling resources on much needed services for
addiction treatment. Prevention, harm reduction and treatment
programs are far too few in number currently, and getting further
diminished as funding is cut.

Prohibition has failed. I have endorsed Prop 19, not because I am in
favor of drug use, but because I love my children, and I firmly
believe that the war on drugs has done more harm than good to our
society. Prop 19, which will be on the November 2 state ballot, will
decriminalize possession of up to an ounce of marijuana by adults 21
and older. It will allow local governments, including San Diego
County, to decide how to regulate the sale of marijuana to adults 21
and older. It is sound and reasonable public policy.

My passion for this cause was born out of love for my sons. My
compassion for individuals with addictive disorders, as well as my
abiding belief in human dignity, add fuel to this advocacy work. It
is time to endorse and promote policies of harm reduction and
restoration, rather than retribution. Perhaps together we can let go
of angry politics, and lead the way to positive and healing
alternatives, for the sake of all of our children and the futures of
the next generation.