Pubdate: Tue, 28 Aug 2012
Source: Daily Campus, The (UConn, CT Edu)
Copyright: 2012 ThesDaily Campus
Contact:  http://www.dailycampus.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2778
Author: Gregory Koch

LEGALIZED MARIJUANA SUPPORTERS DESERVE A BETTER REPUTATION

Many people who have known me for years are surprised to learn I 
support the legalization of marijuana. They point out how anti-drugs 
I was in high school and wonder how I could have changed. However, I 
still am anti-drugs in the sense that I have no desire to ever use 
them. That doesn't, and shouldn't, make me anti-drug in terms of the law.

People have a misconception that everyone who supports legal 
marijuana is pro-drugs, or as they might say, a pothead or a druggie. 
This belief is both false and harmful. No one assumes that all 
supporters of same-sex marriage are homosexuals themselves. There are 
plenty of supporters of marriage equality who have no intention of 
ever marrying someone of their own sex. Likewise, not all pro-choice 
women plan on eventually having an unplanned pregnancy and seeking an 
abortion (irony intended). Therefore, it is unfair for people to 
assume that everyone who supports the legalization of marijuana does 
so because they want to get high.

There are many valid reasons for opposing the War on Drugs. Even 
conceding the argument that using marijuana once has lifelong adverse 
effects on the individual, the same is true of incarceration and the 
creation of a criminal record. Even if marijuana is harmful under all 
circumstances, throwing the user in jail simply creates a second 
punishment for a "crime" which only harms the offender. Even 
President Obama admits he smoked marijuana when he was younger. 
Perhaps this was just an act of youthful foolishness and he is wiser 
now. That's fine. I've certainly committed some acts of youthful 
foolishness. However, Obama supports incarcerating young people for 
making the same mistakes he made and branding them with a lifelong 
criminal record. That is unfair to those young adults. Carrying a 
criminal record harms an individual far more than smoking marijuana once.

Furthermore, drug prohibition creates inner-city and cross border 
violence among criminal gangs. This is bound to happen under any form 
of prohibition. Consider the lesson we should have learned (but 
evidently have not) from alcohol Prohibition in the 1920s. Prior to 
the passage of the 18th Amendment, the American Mafia was little more 
than a loosely connected group of small street gangs. By the time 
Prohibition was finally repealed, it had grown into the largest 
organized criminal organization in the country.

Under marijuana prohibition, there are frequent clashes between rival 
gangs along the US-Mexico border, fighting for the opportunity to 
bootleg marijuana into the United States. Marijuana is the largest 
cash crop in California, followed by grapes. However, as popular as 
wine is in California, drug gangs aren't killing each other in order 
to smuggle Pinot over the border. After all, anyone 21 or older can 
buy wine quite legally in California. There is no opportunity for a 
crime-laden black market. Of course, during Prohibition, there were 
plenty of bootleg gangs illegally transporting alcohol around the 
country--including those controlled by notorious gangster Al Capone. 
Many people support drug laws on the grounds that drugs cause 
violence. However, the violence caused by draconian drug laws far 
exceeds violence caused by drugs.

Furthermore, by bringing marijuana into the legal market, it can be 
taxed by the government. That money can then be used by the 
government for public benefit, like drug education. The merit of any 
specific tax is beyond the scope of this article. However, currently 
drug dealers pay no tax on their illicit sales. They don't report it 
to the IRS and they don't make the buyers pay sales tax. By bringing 
marijuana sales into the legal market, the government could increase 
tax revenue significantly. This money could be used to fund education 
instead of incarceration.

Clearly, there are many perfectly rational reasons to support 
legalizing marijuana. I have chosen not to use marijuana, for 
multiple reasons which I will choose to keep private. However, I do 
not support the War on Drugs either. It increases the violence it was 
supposed to stop, it designates people "criminals" for "crimes" of 
which they are solely victims, and it takes away potential tax income 
that could be used to fund drug education instead of incarceration. 
The misconception that pro-legalization equals pro-marijuana has 
harmful effects. Speaking from personal experience, I can say it has 
created a public reluctance to support the former. Legalization of 
marijuana would have many positive effects, even for those who never 
plan on using it.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom