PAUL ARMENTANO, ALTERNET - Thirty-five years ago this month, a
congressionally mandated commission on U.S. drug policy did something
extraordinary: They told the truth about marijuana. On March 22, 1972,
the National Commission on Marihuana (sic) and Drug Abuse -- chaired by
former Pennsylvania Gov. Raymond P. Shafer -- recommended Congress amend
federal law so that the use and possession of pot would no longer be a
criminal offense. State legislatures, the commission added, should do
likewise. . .
Nixon, true to his "law-and-order" roots, shelved the report --
announcing instead that when it came to weed, "We need, and I use the
word 'all out war' on all fronts." For the last 35 years, that's what
we've had.
Approximately 16.5 million Americans have been arrested for marijuana
violations -- more than 80 percent of them on minor possession charges.
U.S. taxpayers have spent well over $20 billion enforcing criminal
marijuana laws, yet marijuana availability and use among the public
remains virtually unchanged. Nearly one-quarter of a million Americans
have been denied federal financial aid for secondary education because
of anti-drug provisions to the Higher Education Act. Most of these
applicants were convicted of minor marijuana possession offenses. . .
According to federal statistics, about 94 million Americans -- that's 40
percent of the U.S. population age 12 or older -- self-identify as
having used cannabis at some point in their lives, and relatively few
acknowledge having suffered significant deleterious health effects due
to their use. America's public policies should reflect this reality, not
deny it. It makes no sense to continue to treat nearly half of all
Americans as criminals.
http://www.alternet.org/story/49597/
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congressionally mandated commission on U.S. drug policy did something
extraordinary: They told the truth about marijuana. On March 22, 1972,
the National Commission on Marihuana (sic) and Drug Abuse -- chaired by
former Pennsylvania Gov. Raymond P. Shafer -- recommended Congress amend
federal law so that the use and possession of pot would no longer be a
criminal offense. State legislatures, the commission added, should do
likewise. . .
Nixon, true to his "law-and-order" roots, shelved the report --
announcing instead that when it came to weed, "We need, and I use the
word 'all out war' on all fronts." For the last 35 years, that's what
we've had.
Approximately 16.5 million Americans have been arrested for marijuana
violations -- more than 80 percent of them on minor possession charges.
U.S. taxpayers have spent well over $20 billion enforcing criminal
marijuana laws, yet marijuana availability and use among the public
remains virtually unchanged. Nearly one-quarter of a million Americans
have been denied federal financial aid for secondary education because
of anti-drug provisions to the Higher Education Act. Most of these
applicants were convicted of minor marijuana possession offenses. . .
According to federal statistics, about 94 million Americans -- that's 40
percent of the U.S. population age 12 or older -- self-identify as
having used cannabis at some point in their lives, and relatively few
acknowledge having suffered significant deleterious health effects due
to their use. America's public policies should reflect this reality, not
deny it. It makes no sense to continue to treat nearly half of all
Americans as criminals.
http://www.alternet.org/story/49597/
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