Pubdate: Mon, 04 May 2009
Source: Kansas State Collegian (KS Edu)
Copyright: 2009 Kansas State Collegian
Contact:  http://kstatecollegian.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2850
Author: Frank Male
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization)

CAVEAT EMPTOR? DON'T THINK SO

The push for legalizing marijuana has some star power behind it. From
staunch conservatives like the late William Buckley, Jr. to
libertarians like the late Milton Friedman, from Representative Barney
Frank to musician Carlos Santana, public figures have lined up to
legalize taking a toke.

Why do I, along with 60 percent of Americans, disagree? Although I
can't speak for everyone, I think I can boil it down to a few factors.
Legalization will increase government bureaucracy even more, it will
increase the availability of drugs to underaged people and it will not
seriously help crime or abuse rates.

Liberals dislike expansion of the government into the private sphere,
while conservatives dislike its market-distorting effects and
libertarians just hate it all. Well, we would get to see all sorts of
bloated government if marijuana was legalized.

First, legalizing marijuana wouldn't mean the end of to the War on
Drugs. There are several other drugs out there for the government to
fight. Channels used for transporting marijuana are also used to move
heavier drugs. Also, considering the high taxes that would undoubtedly
be enforced on the marijuana trade, illegal operations could stay in
business by undercutting the legal marketplace.

Second, regulatory agencies would inevitably spring up. Alcohol,
tobacco and even children's toys are regulated by the federal
government, and marijuana will certainly not get off the hook. The
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms would get a name change and
another job to screw up.

Speaking of ATF, legalizing marijuana would make it easier for minors
to access and abuse the drug. Right now underage drinking is a
multibillion dollar market, so imagine how underage marijuana usage
would end up. And for the most part, drug use starts in
adolescence.

Results from the 2004 National Survey on Drug Use and Health show that
"adults who had first used substances at a younger age were more
likely to be classified with dependence or abuse than adults who
initiated use at a later age."

The tobacco industry has been accused of targeting underaged people
because minors are more easily bated by tobacco than adults. This also
holds true for drugs such as marijuana. Marijuana is nothing we want
around kids, and legalizing it would certainly move the two menaces
closer.

Let's be honest: Marijuana is not an innocent, harmless drug which
does nothing wrong. It does nothing good to your lungs, works as a
great de-motivator and can ruin your life. I have a friend who points
out that if people were all smoking pot, they would never get into
fights or do ridiculously stupid things. This might be true, but if
everyone was smoking pot, no one would be doing anything else, either.

Contending that legalization would not increase marijuana use does not
hold water. To paraphrase "Field Of Dreams," if you legalize it, they
will come. Marijuana use would increase just as alcohol use jumped up
after Prohibition ended.

Every marijuana advocate loves to bring up the Netherlands to show how
great legalization is for a country. If it works that well, then why
haven't other European countries followed its lead in the last three
decades? Even the Dutch government has avoided actually legalizing
marijuana, instead leaving it technically illegal since taking the
policy of a "gedogen" - blind eye - towards weed. Surely 33 years of
successful policy would have been expanded and exported to other countries.

Legalizing marijuana would not end the War on Drugs, but would
increase government and create more trouble. We already have alcohol
and tobacco around, why bring another drug into the mix?

Let the Dutch have their Mary Jane. I prefer my bourbon.

Frank Male is a senior in physics, political science and toolology. 
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D