MARIJUANA: PROHIBITION FAILING; LEGALIZING COULD BE TAX BOON

Are people really afraid of legalizing marijuana? I cannot understand
why it is such a crazy idea to let people consume cannabis. People
can get drunk all they want, and humanity keeps moving right along.
Of course, there was a time when the country outlawed alcohol
consumption, and that failed miserably. Sure Al Capone enjoyed the
lucrative aspect of alcohol prohibition, but that prohibition failed
and cannabis prohibition has failed for the same reasons.

Abuse of cannabis is detrimental, but there is a difference between
use and abuse.

Most people who use cannabis are responsible and have a job, just
like those who use alcohol. If cannabis were regulated like alcohol,
there would still be cannabis abuse like there is alcohol abuse, but
how bad could cannabis abuse really be for society?

I doubt that fast-food chains and pantry stores would be getting held
up for munchies or that youngsters would pawn their iPods for water
bongs, but are those images what is so frightening about legalizing it?

The biggest concern about a taxed and regulated market for cannabis
is how to enforce driving sobriety issues. People should not drive
impaired by any substance. If they do they are endangering others,
thereby breaking the law, and should be punished accordingly.

For most teenagers it is easier to get cannabis than alcohol because
dealers don't card, so making the cannabis market a taxable legal
market would actually prevent access to cannabis by children. Plus,
why is the government concerned about "sending the right message to
children"? Shouldn't that be the parents' duty and responsibility?
Adult cannabis use should not be illegal in an effort to "send the
right message," and a legal cannabis market would have age
restrictions and penalties for those who supply children with cannabis.

Maintaining cannabis prohibition because of its addictive qualities
is a flawed argument as well. Cannabis has been shown to be less
addictive than alcohol and nicotine in a study done for the NIDA in
1994 by Jack E. Henningfield.

The study noted the dependence, tolerance and withdrawal levels of
cannabis were lower than those of alcohol and nicotine.

Prohibitionists face the problem that cannabis use is not as bad as
they have been portraying, and more and more studies are being
released documenting the medical benefits of cannabis. Any concerns
about "smoking" medicine can quickly be dismissed by the use of
vaporizers and ingesting cannabis. Plus, if smoking cannabis is so
harmful, then why aren't there widespread cases of lung cancer among
cannabis users?

Cannabis has not one documented fatal overdose, which cannot be said
about many over-the-counter drugs found in most homes.

Cannabis use is still common despite being against the law, and more
than 97 million Americans admit to having tried it, according to the
2005 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. This is proof that
cannabis prohibition is not working, and regulating and taxing
cannabis is a better option. Cannabis users are probably the only
segment of the population that actually wants higher taxes!

These cannabis consumers would rather pay a tax on their habit and
purchase it legally than risk arrest, and with government budgets
stretched thin, how can we afford to keep losing this potential
source of tax revenue? A recent study by Jon Gettman, Ph.D., "Lost
Taxes and Other Costs of Marijuana Laws," estimates that marijuana in
the U.S. is a $113 billion industry annually and that American
taxpayers are losing a total of $41 billion toward enforcement of
marijuana laws and lost potential tax revenue.

Alcohol prohibition did not work, and cannabis prohibition is not
working either.

Are we really afraid of the hippies, stoners and potheads of the
world? If not, then we should stop locking them up and wasting tax
dollars and police officers' time. After all, it's supposed to be a
free country, right?