You may have heard about the biggest mistake in Question 1, which is the removal of the prohibition of marijuana possession by minors. A very big mistake, but there are many more flaws. While the prohibition ban for minors could be corrected by the Legislature, we've seen how well that's been working lately. There are a number of issues that are not getting much publicity: * Any respected law enforcement official will say the pursuit of offenders for the civil offense of possession is not keeping one officer from investigating homicides or looking for abducted children. [continues 234 words]
Maine voters are deciding on six referendums this election. Here are The Times Record's endorsements. Question 1 seeks to allow the recreational use and tax of marijuana. It's past time to legalize marijuana, the most commonly used illicit drug in the nation. According to the Pew Research Center, 49 percent of Americans admit having tried marijuana, while 53 percent support legalization. Legalization would make recreational use safer, free up law enforcement and the courts to prosecute more serious crimes, and provide another source of badly-needed revenue for the state. [continues 69 words]
Regarding James M. Friedlander's Oct. 8 commentary ("A modest proposal: Should we legalize drugs?"), the drug war is largely a war on marijuana smokers. In 2009, there were 858,405 marijuana arrests in the United States, almost 90 percent for simple possession. At a time when state and local governments are laying off police, firefighters and teachers, this country continues to spend enormous public resources criminalizing Americans who prefer marijuana to martinis. The end result of this ongoing culture war is not necessarily lower rates of use. [continues 125 words]
I believe James Friedlander's proposal to legalize, regulate and control drugs is the correct course of action ("A modest proposal: Should we legalize drugs?" commentary, Oct. 8). Drug prohibition doesn't work any better than alcohol prohibition did. After 40 years and a trillion-dollars worth of Nixon's "war on drugs," drugs are cheaper, more potent and more available than ever. We also get the added bonus of ever-increasing prohibition-related violence as drug dealers fight over the market. Drug dealers don't kill each other, and innocent bystanders, because they are high any more than Al Capone killed rival bootleggers because he was drunk. It's the money. [continues 255 words]
