Pubdate: Sat, 20 Sep 2014
Source: Washington Post (DC)
Copyright: 2014 The Washington Post Company
Contact: http://mapinc.org/url/mUgeOPdZ
Website: http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/491
Author: Adam Eidinger
Page: A15
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v14/n752/a02.html

LEGALIZING MARIJUANA FOR A JUST SOCIETY

The Post's Sept. 15 editorial on Initiative No. 71 was aptly 
headlined "Just say no," recalling Nancy Reagan's message to kids in 
the 1980s, since it read like an artifact of prohibitionist thinking.

Initiative No. 71 would legalize the use of marijuana only for adults 
and would not make it legal to sell marijuana. That would be up to 
the D.C. Council to implement.

The Post incorrectly surmised that the council rejected legalization 
by passing decriminalization. The consensus on the council is that 
the will of the voters should determine whether the District adopts 
legalization. Council member Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6), author of the 
decriminalization law, and others have expressed this view to the 
D.C. Cannabis Campaign.

We may not yet know all the benefits of redirecting an estimated more 
than $26 million per year now spent by the Metropolitan Police 
Department and the District's court system on enforcement of 
marijuana laws once legalization is passed. However, this is a 
progressive and long-overdue step toward creating a safer, more just 
and free civil society.

Adam Eidinger, Washington The writer is chairman of the D.C. Cannabis Campaign.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom