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<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'><span style='font-size:20.0pt'>The Future of Drug Prohibition<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'><span style='font-size:20.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-indent:.25in'>Tobacco, marijuana, opium, coca,
and alcohol have a long history of use across the globe. People have sought out
these substances to relieve the pain and monotony in their lives. The repeated
efforts to impose zero tolerance always end in failure because <b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>human beings are</b> <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'>genetically designed</b> <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>to seek
pleasure and avoid</b> <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>pain.</b> The
current drug war is the usual battle over who will control the marketing of
which drug.</p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-indent:.25in'><span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�</span>The economic collapse of the <st1:country-region><st1:place>U.S.</st1:place></st1:country-region>
economy in 1929 helped bring about the repeal of alcohol prohibition in 1933.
Presidential candidate, Franklin D. Roosevelt, understood that the misery of
the Depression and the rising cost of fighting corruption and violence was too
great a burden to impose on the American people. In the same way, our 2009
economic crisis has triggered a debate over the legalization of cannabis � a
debate no politician seeking re-election would have dared to suggest twenty
five years ago.</p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-indent:.25in'>The sudden interest in a change in
<st1:country-region><st1:place>U.S.</st1:place></st1:country-region> drug
policy is fueled by the efforts of pro-legalization groups like NORML, MPP and
LEAP (Law Enforcement Against Prohibition) that want drug violence to end and a
new policy to begin.</p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-indent:.25in'>Most Americans are not aware that
cannabis was listed in the U.S. Pharmacopeia as an approved medicine until 1943
when pressure from federal bureaucrats forced the AMA to remove it. </p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-indent:.25in'>Many Americans who support the
noble idea of a drug-free society do not realize how costly it is to build and
maintain a huge prison system. The network of surveillance, drug testing,
arresting and processing suspects, all feed into our overburdened state and
federal courts. From there, an arrested family member may be sent to prison,
forced into a drug treatment program, put on probation, or told to pay a fine.
If this policy had merit, it would have created a safer, healthier society
instead of a criminal population of disenfranchised ex-cons seeking help from
charitable organizations.</p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-indent:.25in'><span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�</span>So far, Federal lawmakers have borrowed <b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>fourteen trillion dollars through the
Treasury</b> and <st1:State><st1:place>California</st1:place></st1:State>
lawmakers have borrowed <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>twenty billion
dollars </b>just to keep going. The drug war costs tax payers <b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>69</b> <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>billion
dollars</b> each year. What�s wrong with this picture?</p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-indent:.25in'><span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�</span>If winning the war is more important than
balancing budgets or abiding by the Constitution then why not pass nationwide,
random, mandatory, drug testing, and force the taxpayer to foot the bill? We
could send those who failed a drug test to private prisons where they can work
menial jobs at low wages and receive free drug education. What�s wrong with
that?</p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-indent:.25in'>Drug warriors fear that drug
re-legalization means �anything goes.� Why would they think that?</p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-indent:.25in'>Before 1914, all drugs in <st1:country-region><st1:place>America</st1:place></st1:country-region>
were legal, regulated and taxed. Somehow, most, but not all Americans managed
to live ordinary lives in the presence of patent medicines which contained
opium, morphine, and cannabis tinctures and extracts. </p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-indent:.25in'>Drug re-legalizers argue that
�legal� means �<b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>control</b>�. It means ID
cards and taxation. It means adults only. It also means �<b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'>addiction recovery clinics</b>� for those who need help with hard drugs
- the kind of clinics we had before 1920 when zero tolerance lawmakers forced
them all to shut down.</p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-indent:.25in'>Drug warriors argue that the cost
of treating drug addicts would cancel out all the benefits gained from
re-legalization. If we stopped the arrests then drug use would explode and
exacerbate the problem.</p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-indent:.25in'><span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�</span>What is missing here is trust in people to
manage their own lives instead of hiring SWAT teams to break into people�s
homes. Legal drugs like alcohol and prescription pills have the potency and
purity listed on the drug which reduces or eliminates accidental overdose. If
one person suffers injury or death with full knowledge of the risks, should the
rest of us be punished?</p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-indent:.25in'>If a popular referendum denies
politicians additional tax money to throw away on a failed drug policy then
that sends a clear message. After that, it is up to the state lawmakers and <i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>not the federal government</i> to make
changes that will reduce the violence, corruption and financial burden of a war
we cannot win.</p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-indent:.25in'><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-indent:.25in'>James Wiley</p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-indent:.25in'><st1:place><st1:City>San Anselmo</st1:City>,
<st1:State>CA</st1:State></st1:place></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-indent:.25in'>415-453-8715</p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-indent:.25in'>May 2011</p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-indent:.25in'><span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>���� </span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-indent:.25in'><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-indent:.25in'><span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�</span></p>
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