MEDICAL MARIJUANA IN MINNEAPOLIS: SMOKE AND MIRRORS

Recently (see Pulse 11/26/03), I reported on an effort by a group called
COHR-- Citizens Organized for Harm Reduction (primarily students at the
University of Minnesota Law School) --that has started gathering signatures
to put a medical marijuana amendment to Minneapolis voters in the November
2004 election.

If passed, the amendment will not immediately start a medical marijuana
program in the city. Instead, it would set up a framework for a medical
marijuana system in Minneapolis where private distributors would be
licensed and monitored by the city to distribute marijuana to certified
patients. The system would only take effect upon passage of a state law
permitting medical marijuana.

This means medical marijuana legislation would have to pass the
Republican-controlled legislature and signed into law by Republican
Governor Tim Pawlenty. As reported, this is self-described as a "statement
of positive change." Yet once again, the drug law reform movement must wait
for the action of others for real positive change.

(Left) Who primarily advocated for the women's suffrage movement in the
'20s and '30s? Women. Who primarily advocated for the civil rights movement
in the '50s and '60s? Black people.

Who primarily advocated for the equal rights of GLBT people in the '80s,
'90s and today?

GLBT people. Who primarily advocates for medical marijuana in
Mpls/Minnesota? Law students, "legalizers" and intellectual elitists (the
"respectables") that exclusively lobby for this issue at the Legislature
and advocate for even less change.

The Anti-Drug War movement suffers, and suffers badly, from a blanket of
opposition. For more than 30 years there have been efforts to reform drug
laws, but they have actually gotten worse, and more people are arrested and
incarcerated for nonviolent drug offenses than ever before. In fact,
according to a 1999 report by the Justice Policy Institute, there are
almost as many inmates imprisoned for drug offenses today (458,131) as the
entire US prisoner population of 1980 (474,368). According to Federal
Bureau of Investigation's annual Uniform Crime Report of 2001, 723,627
persons were arrested for marijuana violations in 2001.

So the movement is desperate for "wins," and understandably so. The
majority of positive reform on this issue has come from the eight states
that have passed medical marijuana ballot initiatives. So why not work for
one here in Minneapolis, too? It's sure to be an easy "win."

However, this begs the question: Who wins, and what do they (we) win? When
(if) the Minneapolis initiative passes, what immediate, concrete
improvements in people's lives will this facilitate? Sadly, the answer is
obvious--none.

This strategy also feeds into the opposition's argument that medical
marijuana is just a "smoke screen" (excuse the pun) to legalize marijuana
for recreational use. And they're right.

Who primarily advocated for the women's suffrage movement in the '20s and
'30s? Women. Who primarily advocated for the civil rights movement in the
'50s and '60s? Black people.

Who primarily advocated for the equal rights of GLBT people in the '80s,
'90s and today?

GLBT people.

Who primarily advocates for medical marijuana in Mpls/Minnesota? Law
students, "legalizers" and intellectual elitists (the "respectables") that
exclusively lobby for this issue at the Legislature and advocate for even
less change (i.e. lobbying for funding for more research studies). That's
right, not even one person with a debilitating medical condition who
actually benefits from medicinal marijuana is an organizer in the
Minneapolis effort!

There is good news nationally of real reform for those who get arrested.
Oakland voters will be asked to tax and regulate marijuana this November
thanks to the Oakland Civil Rights Alliance (OCLA). Frustrated at failed
state and federal laws, the local coalition filed a proposed local ballot
measure on February 19 to take cannabis off the streets by putting it into
a controlled environment. Should Oakland voters pass the measure, the City
would tax and regulate sales of cannabis to adults as soon as possible
under state law, in order to keep it off the streets, away from children
and to fund vital city services Until that time, the initiative would make
private adult cannabis offenses the city's lowest law enforcement priority,
so as to focus on violent crimes.

Although the measure is somewhat dependent on a California state law, it
will have an immediate impact on the number of marijuana arrests in Oakland
when passed.

Granted, California has led the way in medical marijuana reform as far back
as the mid-90s, when the Compassionate Use Act of 1996 (aka Prop 215) was
the first statewide medical marijuana voter initiative adopted in the
United States, organized by medical marijuana advocates (patients). Some
may say it might have paved the way for wider acceptance of marijuana
reform for non-patients/personal use in the state, but the reality is the
state of California has stymied numerous non-medical marijuana reforms
(hence the current municipal initiative). Those actually paving the way for
the majority of people who enjoy marijuana responsibly are those whose
civil liberties have been eroded by our nation's and state's draconian drug
laws, and they're doing something substan tive about today.

Additionally, Americans support decriminalization and reprioritization
efforts and reject the notion that recreational users of the drug should
face arrest or criminal prosecution, according to a national poll of 1,024
likely voters by Zogby International and commissioned by the NORML
Foundation. Sixty-one percent of respondents said that in light of the
increased attention to the threat of terrorism since September 11, they
oppose arresting and jailing nonviolent marijuana smokers. Of those, 39
percent "strongly oppose" arresting smokers, 22 percent "somewhat oppose"
and 6 percent are undecided.

Only 33 percent of those polled say they support arresting and jailing
marijuana offenders, and fewer than one in five (18 percent) voiced strong
support.

Incrementalism can be a good tactic, but is a bad strategy.

Safe access to medicinal marijuana must be one tactic of many (and one
initiated by those who utilize marijuana as medicine) to get to the larger
goal--ending marijuana prohibition and developing a legal market for
marijuana. Only when we build a broad-based support among those who use
marijuana responsibly (recreationally and medicinally), will we effect
change. Thousands of Minnesotans, and millions of Americans, enjoy
marijuana responsibly; few abuse it. We are not a part of the crime
problem. Yet, in the eyes of our own government, we're viewed as a threat
to society and treated like criminals.

Marijuana-policy reform can and should be a powerful populist movement.

When will those who put in precious time, energy and money for mere
"statements of positive change" take heed to Margaret Mead's timeless and
rightful statement "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful citizens
can change the world. Indeed it is the only thing that ever has."?

Aaron Neumann is the Co-Founder and former Chair of NORML MN (the National
Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Law, Minnesota) (1998-2001) and a
freelance reporter for Pulse. For comments, please contact
aneumann@pulsetc.com.

For more information about Citizens Organized for Harm Reduction (COHR),
visit www.cohr.org.