Pubdate: Fri, 17 Aug 2006
Source: DrugSense Weekly (DSW)
Website: http://www.drugsense.org

LETTER OF THE WEEK

MARIJUANA PROHIBITION IS IMMORAL, DESTRUCTIVE

By Ivan Smason, Ph.D., J.D.

Re: Medipot Harassment Lets Illicit Use Thrive, August 2-8, 2007

In the final paragraph of his featured opinion essay, Tom Elias 
essentially said that "if marijuana is truly destructive," why not 
focus anti-marijuana police and adjudication monies and forces 
against large-scale commercial growers of cannabis "whose sales have 
truly destructive potential." Respectfully however, the problem with 
what he said is that marijuana is NOT truly destructive. On the other 
hand, the federal anti-marijuana laws are destructive, immoral and in 
violation of the supreme law of the land that is the U.S. Constitution.

The marijuana prohibition is immoral and destructive because 
destructive punishments initiated by police for its use almost never 
bear a relation to a crime itself. That is to say that the act of 
consuming cannabis is not an immoral, dangerous or a destructive 
act.  Conversely, consuming natural cannabis is much safer and 
healthier than consuming alcohol, tobacco, many foods and drinks and 
many-to-most pharmaceutical "drugs." Poisonous house-cleaning 
products are available for purchase every day by the endless gallon, 
but mostly healthy cannabis is banned from purchase, or even 
cultivation.  Tellingly, while marijuana use is not destructive, the 
fines, torments, adulterations, disenfranchisements and murders meted 
out for its acquisition are immoral and highly destructive.

The marijuana prohibition is, technically, unconstitutional.  The 
reason for this is that the Constitution enumerates the limits it 
places on the federal government in relation to the individual states 
and the citizenry.  The U.S. Constitution does not give the federal 
government the right or power to prohibit the personal consumption of 
anything at all. That the so-called "Supreme Court" has collectively 
enabled this unconstitutionality and immorality, says much more about 
a lack of wisdom or humanity among its "justices" than it does about 
the utility of cannabis. By extending federal authority onto matters 
of state and personal sovereignty, both Congress and the Supreme 
Court have, technically, broken our peoples' supreme law.

Moral democracies such as ours are supposed to have tolerant 
governments that are responsive to the will of the people, and the 
people have made it clear that we do not want cannabis prohibition as 
a matter of law or policy, unconstitutional or labeled otherwise.

Ivan Smason, Ph.D., J.D.

Santa Monica

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Pubdate: Thu, 09 Aug 2007

Author: Ivan Smason

Source: Santa Monica Mirror (CA)

Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n925/a09.html
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