NORML has one of the largest cannabis-related archives in the world and it is replete with headlines that are hysterical, funny, shocking, propagandistic, dumb, witty, ironic and in the case of the front page splash of the September 14 Peninsula Daily News (Port Angeles and Sequim area of Washington State), revealing.
While Hubbard may have had tongue firmly in cheek, the suggestion that it is PROHIBITION, not the responsible use of cannabis by NBA players—similar to the current alcohol, tobacco and prescription drug use policy that NBA players, like most every worker in the country, work under—there is an obvious mutuality and bridge to gap between the cannabis law reform community and professional sports associations, like the cannabis-laden NBA.
The numbers of Americans arrested for marijuana offenses now are so huge, perhaps the only way to get a grip on the humanity of this prohibition-driven social disaster, is to think of just a few of the people who have paid the ultimate price since I joined NORML’s Board of Directors in 2004, those who actually lost their lives in the enforcement of cannabis prohibition.
According to a Zogby Poll released today, three in four likely voters (76%) believe the U.S. war on drugs is failing, a sentiment that cuts across the political spectrum-including the vast majority of Democrats (86%), political independents (81%), and most Republicans (61%). There is also a strong belief that the anti-drug effort is failing among those who intend to vote for Barack Obama (89%) for president, as well as most supporters of John McCain (61%).
The Global Cannabis Commission of the respected United Kingdom charity Beckley Foundation released a report today stating that cannabis is less harmful than alcohol or tobacco, and that there needs to be serious reconsideration of current prohibition policies.
My recent debate with Cumberland County District Attorney David Freed at Dickinson College on September 4 in now online for viewing.
But the drug czar probably assumed that it’s a freebie to call people with criminal convictions anything he wants, because they’re likely to be too ashamed to defend themselves. That’s certainly true, but it didn’t take me long to find credible people willing to vouch for the existence of first-time, non-violent marijuana offenders—excuse me, unicorns.
Without sounding overly jaded, it will not surprise many that a principle root of the problem here is ‘money’. In fact, our tax money.
Washington DC’s Roll Call newspaper had an article last week (10/15/08, pg 9, under the very aptly entitled ‘Vested Interests’ section) that highlights one of the major sources for cannabis arrests in the United States, and how it’s possible demise in future might have positive effects for cannabis consumers in the coming years.