"End the War on Pot"

This is Sheryl. I found myself completely agreeing with Nicholas D. Kristof’s article “End the War on Pot.”  Kristof discusses the possible legalization of marijuana in California, where medical marijuana is already extremely accessible.  He outlines three main reasons legalizing marijuana would be beneficial based on what he describes as “catastrophic consequences” of the current drug policy.

First, he talks about how a significantly larger amount of money is going toward prisons instead of schools.  In Oakland, for example, the state spends roughly $8,000 per child in the public school system, whereas it spends $216,000 per year on each juvenile detainee.  Over 700,000 people per year are arrested for possession of small amounts of marijuana which costs a lot of money legally. 

Secondly, he discusses the impact the current drug policy has had on the Africacn-American population and the devastation occurring.  He says that because of drug laws, the average black man has a one in three change of serving time at some point in his life.  Kristof says that this makes a large impact on the African-American communities because drug convictions make it difficult to find jobs and have flourishing families.

The third issue Kristof discusses is the gang empowerment created by the illegality of marijuana.  Violent gangs and cartels, he says, benefit because of their distribution and the profits they are able to reap.  As long as a drug remains illegal, distributing it can earn someone a lot of money, something which cartels and gangs surely want to do.

I completely agree with Kristof that marijuana should be legalized.  It makes sense for hard drugs to be illegal, but marijuana is nowhere near as dangerous as any other drug.  There have been no deaths caused by marijuana, there is no danger of overdose.  Alcohol and cigarettes are both legal, despite their potentially deadly consequences.  If you drink too much, it can kill you.  If you smoke cigarettes, you can develop any number of tobacco-related diseases which can also be deadly.  Not to mention, nicotine is extremely addictive, and alcoholism is a very dangerous disease.  So why is it that these two dangerous, potentially deadly substances are legal, but marijuana, which no one has ever died from, is not?  It just doesn’t make sense.

I live in Massachusetts where marijuana was recently decriminalized.  This means that if someone is caught in possession of marijuana – unless it is an unusually large amount – worst case scenario, they receive a $100 ticket.  Ever since this was put in place, there has been a significant decrease in tension between the police and the teens, at least in the suburbs around where I’m from.  It used to be that the teens always dreaded running into police anywhere because chances are someone has pot on them.  That’s what happens when you live in a boring small suburb.  But now it’s so much more relaxed.  I noticed it the first time I went home to Massachusetts after the new law was put into effect.

I think that the government could definitely benefit from legalizing marijuana nationally, especially with the current economy.  If marijuana was legalized and taxed by the government, they would make a remarkable amount of money.  If the purchasing of marijuana didn’t have to be done under-the-table, the government could definitely benefit from it.

It’s time the government eased up, rolled a blunt, and enjoyed.  Legally.