By Restless

Reading Jacob Sullum’s weekly column, syndicated in the neo-con daily, New York Post, I was surprised to see that both Nevada and Colorado are attempting to legalize marijuana by referendum this November. In Nevada, the group opposing this move is called The Committee to Keep Nevada Respectable, which is funny since gambling and prostitution is not only legal, but keeps Nevadans from having a state income tax to pay. As Sullum says, the Committee seems to be saying: “Smoking pot is less respectable than a drunken gambling spree followed by a visit to a hooker.”

The measures have the backing of religious leaders, thanks to the help of the Interfaith Drug Policy Initiative, a religious group devoted to reforming the inhumane sentencing laws (787,000 arrests last year, 1 every 40 seconds).

But the prison/law enforcement/military complex is on the case. When Mexico passed a bill legalizing all drugs for personal use in April and Presidente Fox declared he would sign it, they went to work. By May, Fox declined to sign saying, “[Congress needs to] make it absolutely clear in our country, the possession of drugs and their consumption are, and will continue to be, a criminal offense.” Likewise, something called the Colorado Drug Investigators Association has declared: “proponents for legalization eat away at society’s resolve and moral fiber.” Right.

The War on Drugs is essentially a war on our citizens by other citizens, the sober ones, I guess you could call them, or the Puritan ones. In US history, there is only one Constitutional Amendment that has been repealed. The Founding Fathers made the passage of Amendments to the Constitution hard to do. That’s why we don’t have amendments against flag burning or gay marriage–yet.

But Prohibition was repealed. Not before there was a thriving gangster culture of bootleggers and smugglers, deaths from illegal booze and open disrespect for law and law enforcement personnel. But in those days, there were no urine tests at the work place, no draconian prison sentences for possession.

Shortly after repeal, the first marijuana laws went into effect. Could all the monies wasted on enforcement and punishment be better used for education, counseling or rehabilitation? Our homegrown drug “warriors” are at war, but what’s at stake is really their own job security, nothing more.

“The government spends an estimated $4 billion a year arresting and prosecuting marijuana crimes — more than it spends on treating addiction for all drugs — and more and more of those busts are for possession rather than dealing.” RS Article