Pubdate: Tue, 5 Oct 2010
Source: Huffington Post (US Web)
Copyright: 2010 HuffingtonPost com, Inc.
Website: http://www.huffingtonpost.com
Author: Gretchen Burns Bergman
Note: Gretchen Burns Bergman is Co-Founder & Executive Director of A 
New PATH (Parents for Addiction Treatment & Healing 
http://www.anewpathsite.org/ ), an organization established in San 
Diego by parents seeking therapeutic, rather than punitive 
alternatives to the War on Drugs. Moms United to End the War on Drugs 
is a campaign of A New PATH, in partnership with other organizations 
and individuals across the state. Join us on Facebook.
Cited: Proposition 19 http://yeson19.com/
Bookmark: http://mapinc.org/find?272 (Proposition 19)

RESTORATION NOT RETRIBUTION

Why would a respectable, responsible and caring group of parents want 
to legalize marijuana? Because we are fed up with the violence and 
the loss of lives and liberty caused by the war on drugs, which has 
become a war against our loved ones who use, struggle with, or are 
addicted to drugs, and our families. We simply cannot stand for the 
continued criminalization and punishment of what is essentially a 
public health problem.

We have an opportunity in California now to turn the tide on the drug 
war by passing Proposition 19, the Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis 
Act of 2010, in November. Moms are uniting and leading the charge to 
end marijuana prohibition, just as mothers did to end alcohol 
Prohibition in the 1930's. We are demanding an end to the pointless 
and punitive criminalization of drug users and the needless deaths 
caused by the illegal drug trade. We are joining across the state -- 
mothers who have lost their children to overdose and parents whose 
families have been ravaged by both addiction and incarceration -- in 
an effort to promote therapeutic and restorative approaches to drug use.

I have experienced the damages of marijuana prohibition first-hand. 
My older son was arrested for marijuana possession in 1990, a minor 
charge but one that led to a decade of cycling in and out of the 
prison system for non-violent, low-level drug possession charges. 
This was a devastating emotional saga for our family, a tremendous 
waste of human potential, and an extreme financial burden to the state.

Classifying someone who smokes marijuana as a criminal, or labeling 
an addicted person as a villain, not only exacerbates the problem, 
but also promotes fear-based stigma and discrimination. It can also 
lead to life-long social exclusion. The consequences of a drug 
conviction may include loss of even basic public benefits and place 
significant limitations on future educational and employment 
opportunities. Ultimately, addiction may be easier to overcome than a 
criminal record.

Since 1990, the year my son was first arrested, marijuana possession 
arrests are up by 127% in California. And, although marijuana use 
happens in all of our neighborhoods, African Americans are 
disproportionately affected by these tactics of arrest and 
imprisonment. How many lives continue to be destroyed by these 
misguided policies!

It is nonsensical that marijuana is so targeted and demonized, since 
it actually has much fewer harmful effects than alcohol or 
cigarettes, both of which are legal for adults. There is no violent 
behavior associated with marijuana use, and it does have some 
medicinal benefits. Given all this, marijuana prohibition clearly has 
much more to do with "tough-on-crime" politics than on reason and science.

Proponents of prohibition say that these policies are designed to 
protect children. They don't. Despite the fact that marijuana arrests 
have tripled in Californian in the last 20 years, marijuana remains 
widely available to young people. Teenagers in high school or junior 
high consistently report that marijuana is easier to get a hold of 
than either cigarettes or alcohol. Regulating marijuana would mean 
that young people have less access, and that law enforcement can 
focus on more important public safety matters. It would also allow us 
to utilize our dwindling resources on much needed services for 
addiction treatment. Prevention, harm reduction and treatment 
programs are far too few in number currently, and getting further 
diminished as funding is cut.

Prohibition has failed. I have endorsed Prop 19, not because I am in 
favor of drug use, but because I love my children, and I firmly 
believe that the war on drugs has done more harm than good to our 
society. Prop 19, which will be on the November 2 state ballot, will 
decriminalize possession of up to an ounce of marijuana by adults 21 
and older. It will allow local governments, including San Diego 
County, to decide how to regulate the sale of marijuana to adults 21 
and older. It is sound and reasonable public policy.

My passion for this cause was born out of love for my sons. My 
compassion for individuals with addictive disorders, as well as my 
abiding belief in human dignity, add fuel to this advocacy work. It 
is time to endorse and promote policies of harm reduction and 
restoration, rather than retribution. Perhaps together we can let go 
of angry politics, and lead the way to positive and healing 
alternatives, for the sake of all of our children and the futures of 
the next generation.
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake