Medical Marijuana – How will the marijuana debate affect you?
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It was news today that the US Attorney General is not going to prosecute users of medical marijuana if if is legal in the state where the user lives. This is a major change in precedence.
It brings law enforcement on the state and local level into opposition with this policy. According to FBI statistics, in 2008 over 80% of all drug arrests were for possession. 45% of all drug arrests were for simple possession of marijuana. Drug arrests totaled 1,702,537 and possession of
marijuana totaled 752,531. That is a lot of money from fines, court costs and such. That is a lot of police time and material used to do that job. There were as many arrests for possession as there were for violent crime. It would seem that the police go after easy targets – those possessing a small amount of an illegal substance – versus those committing serious crimes. I guess it looks good. Arrests are up yet marijuana use according to Federal statistics is flat to trending down. It would seem money and man power are being used to target non-violent crimes of little consequence.
I don’t want to put down police. I am glad we have them. I would like to see those finite resources used for better purposes. What I know about marijuana shows that it is about the same as alcohol in its effect and duration. Just like alcohol, it is subject to abuse. Just as in the days of prohibition, lots of money is made that is untaxed, lots of resources are consumed with enforcement, and little progress is made. We have had a”war on drugs” but stats would show that the war is mainly on small consumers of drugs.
I think marijuana use should be legalized, taxed and regulated. I think real facts about marijuana’s medical benefits and the real problems with use should be available. I do not think marijuana should be smoked for medical purposes. If THC, the active ingredient is what is needed it should be extracted and prescribed through a pharmacy. I think it should be legal to do so and that prescribing it like many other drugs should require certain licenses or training on the part of the practitioner.
Do you think this is crazy? What is your opinion?
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