Tracknum: 23982.001801c02924.95672420.1ac2cfa9 Pubdate: Thu, 21 Sep 2000 Source: Badger Herald (WI) Copyright: 2000 Badger Herald Address: 326 W. Gorham St., Madison WI, 53703 Fax: (608) 257-6899 Feedback: http://www.badgerherald.com/about/contact_staff.shtml Website: http://www.badgerherald.com/ Author: Robert Sharpe Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1400/a01.htm Bookmark: MAP's link to Wisconsin articles is: http://www.mapinc.org/states/wi POLICE ACCUSATIONS ARE STALE PROPAGANDA IN WAR ON DRUGS In defending Madison police's heavy-handed approach to marijuana, Lt. Bill Housley of the Dane County narcotics unit claims that "the current grade of marijuana is a more potent and dangerous strain than grown in the past." Let's get something straight. Both low-potency and high-potency pot will yield the desired results. The only difference is the potent marijuana requires significantly less smoke inhalation. Marijuana prohibition is built on lies like those perpetuated by Lt. Housley. Prior to the passage of the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 and subsequent "reefer madness" campaign, few Americans had heard of marijuana. Recreational use was limited to Mexican migrants and a handful of black jazz musicians. Historians have argued that the first marijuana laws were a racist reaction to Mexican laborers taking jobs from whites during the Great Depression. Legislation was passed in large part due to newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst's sensationalist yellow journalism. Incredibly violent acts were allegedly committed by minorities under marijuana's influence. The blatant lies used to justify marijuana prohibition lend credence to the theory that marijuana laws were intended as a means of disenfranchising minorities. (Interestingly enough, whites did not smoke marijuana until the government began demonizing the plant.) Make no mistake. Marijuana laws are not about protecting health. We don't incarcerate rugby players, tobacco smokers or people with poor diets. Hopefully policymakers will end this misguided culture war and finally apply the lessons learned from America's disastrous experiment with alcohol prohibition. For more information, contact Students for Sensible Drug Policy at www.ssdp.org. Robert Sharpe George Washington University