YOUNG: SOME ARGUMENTS FOR LEGALIZING MARIJUANA IN THE UNITED STATES FORUM

Today's Forum was written by Douglas Young, associate professor of
political science and history at Gainesville College. Every college should
be a free marketplace of ideas where all perspectives joust. Yet to even
consider legalizing marijuana is often unacceptable in academic company.
But, because all public policy should be rationally debated, let's at least
look at some legalization arguments. I wish no one used any recreational
drug (and I avoid them all). But if we must outlaw everything that is
potentially dangerous, then we need a federal 30 mph speed limit and a ban
on fatty foods greasing the obesity epidemic and killing more than 300,000
Americans annually (CBS News). Somehow we survived legal marijuana until
1937. It actually helped finance our revolution, clothe the Continental
Army and provide the paper for our Declaration of Independence and the
Constitution. Washington and Jefferson grew it, and the latter risked
smuggling it out of Europe. In fact, before 1870, hemp oil ranked second
only to whale oil in creating light around the world. During World War II,
the feds pushed hemp production to make rope for the war effort. Dope got
banned because federal cops wanted to keep their jobs, cotton farmers
wanted to end hemp competition, and whites linked pot to Mexican immigrants
and black jazz musicians. Louis Armstrong never performed without it, and a
later user, Beatle Paul McCartney, still calls joints ''herbal jazz
cigarettes.'' Caucasians feared white girls would ''go crazy'' on dope and
become intimate with minority males. So, to avert ''Reefer Madness,'' the
weed was outlawed instead of the cancer sticks, liver poison and ''Mother's
Little Helper'' pills preferred by the ruling class. Now 500,000 Americans
are in jail for marijuana (ABC News), and more than 700,000 more are
arrested for it each year (the FBI). In fact, an attorney on ''The O'Reilly
Factor'' reveals there are presently more lifers in California prisons for
pot than for murder, rape and kidnapping combined. So pot-smokers get
locked up with and brutalized by our most violent felons. How's that for
''rehabilitation?'' Then their records deny them student loans, voting
rights and many good jobs. Does our abuse of drug-users resemble how we
used to mistreat the mentally ill? The medical evidence shows drug addicts
are unwisely self-medicating a dopamine deficiency in the brain. They need
treatment, not an 8-foot-by-10-foot cell. William F. Buckley, Jr. notes
that 400,000 police can't go after violence and theft due to the endless
''War on Drugs.'' Doesn't prohibition fuel the forbidden fruit syndrome?
The 1920s alcohol ban criminalized a huge percentage of decent Americans,
created organized crime in the U.S., and corrupted thousands of police and
officials. Though none is healthy, is pot remotely as bad as alcohol or
cigarettes? CBS News reported that half of U.S. hospital beds are filled by
folks with alcohol-related problems. Then we have 110,000
alcohol-lubricated deaths a year. Also, the Justice Deptartment admits that
alcohol was the only drug found in 36 percent of all convicted criminals
and is a factor in more than 40 percent of murders. Cigarettes are as
addictive as heroin, do far more bodily harm than any opiate, and kill
430,000 Americans a year. My hygienist says they can even cause teeth to
fall out in your 30s. Though pot is psychologically addictive for some, no
one ever overdosed, got cancer or died from marijuana. Nor do people get
violent on it. Also, studies show most pot-smokers do not graduate to
harder illegal drugs. Since decriminalization in Holland, police say pot
use is down, and youths are less exposed to illegal drug dealers and worse
substances. In fact, most of Europe is now doing the same and has far less
drug use and crime than we do (ABC). With effective health classes and ad
campaigns, U.S. tobacco and alcohol consumption are way down. Better
education can lower pot use as well. Though many states have passed
referenda liberalizing marijuana laws, the feds keep vetoing our states'
rights. Ultimately, either we're for less government or we're not. Is it
really state business what consenting adults do in their own home? Wouldn't
our libertarian Founding Fathers be appalled at this gross encroachment on
our privacy rights? Let's at least debate returning to our roots and
finally standing up for freedom for a change.