Pubdate: Mon, 05 Nov 2012
Source: Gloucester Daily Times (MA)
Copyright: 2012 Eagle Tribune Publishing Company
Contact: http://www.gloucestertimes.com/contactus/local_story_015132144.html
Website: http://www.gloucestertimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/169
Author: Andrew Tarr

TIME TO SHED FALSE VIEWS ON MARIJUANA

To the editor:

With the Gloucester Daily Times' stated opposition of Question 3, I 
would expect it will push hard for laws to criminalize tobacco and 
alcohol and give a rousing endorsement of Jack Fellure, the 
Prohibition Party's candidate for president.

Despite the false statements and baseless rhetoric of District 
Attorney Jonathan Blodgett and others in the establishment, the 
detrimental effects of marijuana are almost negligible, and far less 
harmful or addictive than either nicotine or alcohol.

Any prohibition against marijuana that is based on the grounds of the 
minimal harm it does must logically be extended to cigarettes and 
alcohol for the comparatively massive harm they do. Of course, the 
harm to society is not the motive for the drug's legal status by of 
those with a real interest in the criminalization of marijuana.

The so-called "War on Drugs" has failed to make significant progress 
in stemming drug use. Indeed, the price of cocaine has actually 
decreased by 75 percent since the 1970s and drug money continues to 
fund dangerous paramilitary cartels such as Los Zetas.

As a means of oppression and profit however, the drug war has been a 
brilliant success. The excessive jailing of minorities and expansion 
of the private prison system, suppression of the hemp industry, and 
increased "justifiable" intervention in foreign countries are the 
convenient - and for those in the right industries, profitable - 
results of this "War on Drugs."

With the poor reasoning for the criminalization of marijuana, there 
is little argument against its legalization for medical uses, which 
are backed by evidence and supported by prominent medical professionals.

The Times' attempt to demonize the medical marijuana initiative as 
"groundwork" of full legalization falls flat in the face of how 
baseless the drug's criminalization is. Assuredly, increased social 
acceptance of the medicinal uses of marijuana will allow for broader 
support for full legalization in the future, a measure which I also 
support. Actions or things should be illegal because they are bad or 
harmful; actions or things are not bad or harmful just because they 
are illegal.

Eighteen states have thus far legalized the use of marijuana for 
medical purposes. Society has yet to collapse.

It is time to shed our puritanical past and legalize the use of 
medical marijuana. As a father, a former prohibitionist, and someone 
who has never even used the drug, I fully support Question 3 and any 
future motions for full legalization.

ANDREW TARR

Gloucester
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