RENEWED ANTI-POT CAMPAIGN SEEMS ARTIFICIAL, REAL THREAT ABSENT

Since marijuana hasn't been too provocative a subject across news wires
lately, it seemed odd to me for Reuters news service to grace the world with
an astoundingly vague story on the changing face of U.S. drug policy.
Apparently, marijuana is stronger than ever, younger than ever are smoking
it and more of them are requiring abuse treatment as a result. After a long
rest, it looks like the White House is again making pot the ace of spades in
the war on drugs deck of cards.

I wish there were more information I could supply on just how our national
drug policies will change, but of the 23 paragraphs of text, only the first
two made reference to any realignment. The other 21 discussed how the
effects of marijuana on a younger brain carry potentially more dangerous
consequences, how the White House will need cooperation from reluctant local
cops, exactly how much stronger pot is today than in 1988 and you can
probably imagine the rest.

Since the issue of medicinal marijuana is a touch passe - except in Ann
Arbor - perhaps Reuters was just fulfilling its "drugs are bad" quota for
the summer. It's not any real news, just a little crumb to let everyone know
the White House is still concerned about high school students burning one in
the parking lot before school. Ahem.

Problems with drug use just simply aren't sexy this year. It's been a few
years since "Traffic" and "Blow" put drug use up the nose of national
consciousness, but just because drug abuse isn't in the limelight in 2004,
we're still not allowed to call it irrelevant because of the nature of the
beast.

As long as there have been drugs, drugs have killed - adults, children,
everyone. But while the D.A.R.E. program is proving to be ineffective in
deterring children from drugs, studies are showing that less teenagers are
using drugs, and that schools are actually cleaner than they used to be.
Then Reuters pops out pieces like that.

In 2004, youths are not abusing drugs like they used to. They are smarter
than they used to be, they know the consequences of drug use - physical and
legal - better than most adults and, thanks to "South Park," jokes about
hippies are funny again. So, White House Office of National Drug Control
Policy, you're winning the war on keeping drugs out of young hands. What to
do next?

Tell the nation that your children are getting high on the strongest pot
ever. It only makes sense, doesn't it? Scrap the fight against drugs you can
actually overdose on - cocaine and heroin - and continue to make criminals
out of the 20 million American adults who responsibly use and enjoy
marijuana. One nonsmoker to maybe - but probably not - another, I can say
that the laws against marijuana in this country do not accurately represent
the will of the people.

Regardless of what has happened in Washington since 2001, I still have faith
in the justice system. I believe that the scales are still calibrated to
equality and fairness, and while my politics may differ, I believe that
every Supreme Court Justice is qualified to do what they do, discounting the
times they undermine the Constitution.

Laws are supposed to reflect the will of those governed by them. Reinforcing
an emphasis on the illegality of marijuana, though, is not the will of the
people. Or, at least 20 million-plus of them, or at least the 80 million who
have admitted to trying it at least once. Continuing to make criminals out
of the populace for enjoying a harmless vice is the real crime - not holding
a joint.

The word "harmless" probably threw up a red flag. The reason that marijuana
laws need to be decriminalized - meaning, if you're caught with less than an
ounce you won't go to jail - is because, unlike most every other drug, there
is such a thing as responsible use of marijuana. Marijuana might be getting
stronger, but in the grand scheme of things, it's even safer than
responsible use of alcohol. Detach yourself for one moment from the fact
that marijuana is an illegal substance and compare it to alcohol and
tobacco. Not so bad now, is it?

When someone goes overboard on booze, we send them to rehabilitation and
pray they'll kick the addiction. Watch television for an hour or check your
e-mail and you'll see how dedicated we all are to helping smokers "quit
smoking now." But when someone sells a pipe over the Internet to an
undercover Drug Enforcement Administration agent posing as a head shop -
which is called entrapment, John Ashcroft - we send Tommy Chong to prison
for nine months.

We're actually a very compassionate, understanding society. But, why the
compassion turns to persecution because the vice is illegal only in language
will continue to astonish me.