Post by Del Snavely on Nov 13, 2009 11:56:22 GMT -6
Realities of Cannabis Prohibition
As concerned citizens we despise drugs, as we should. We believe that we should do everything we can to criminalize them and their use with harsh penalties. This is the approach we have taken with cannabis for more than 70 years. The cannabis plant is as prevalent now as it was in 1776, when it was “illegal” NOT to grow it here. It’s been established by the government’s own data, that cannabis is in the top three cash crops in the USA, but how can that be? Since 1972 we have spent more than a trillion dollars, gone through 7 presidents, jailed more than twenty million people and it’s STILL in the top three? Last year alone we jailed over 800,000 people for drugs, 87% for cannabis possession alone. What’s wrong with this picture?
At this time 47 percent of the US population has smoked cannabis at some time and it’s estimated that more than twenty five million people use it regularly in this country. Compare the numbers for other drugs and that explains the drug war. If it weren’t for cannabis there would be no drug war. The worst part of this is that people who can benefit medically from this plant are persecuted and put in jail to die. It’s not bad enough that students loose college grants and don’t qualify for student loans, even though murderers get them, or that otherwise law abiding citizens have their children taken away, even though alcoholics don’t, or that hundreds of thousands of people have lost or are refused jobs when this isn’t true for alcoholics, but we still have to make sure that all the sick and dieing people who use cannabis as medicine are put in jail and refused treatment as well.
Yes, we hate drugs, but it’s time we understand the term “Harm Reduction”. We need to re-examine what we can do to remove as much harm from drugs as possible. Including the harm we cause. That’s real compassion. What can we do to start? How about removing those sick and dieing people who need cannabis as medicine from this Drug War? We need medical cannabis laws in North Dakota for two reasons. To show our population that we care for them and to show the Federal Government that there is one more state that supports the science of cannabis and not the politics. Please contact the Medical Cannabis Association of North Dakota at www.mcand.info or email medcanassnd@yahoo.com to help.
Del Snavely
(The MCAND and its web site no longer exists.)
As concerned citizens we despise drugs, as we should. We believe that we should do everything we can to criminalize them and their use with harsh penalties. This is the approach we have taken with cannabis for more than 70 years. The cannabis plant is as prevalent now as it was in 1776, when it was “illegal” NOT to grow it here. It’s been established by the government’s own data, that cannabis is in the top three cash crops in the USA, but how can that be? Since 1972 we have spent more than a trillion dollars, gone through 7 presidents, jailed more than twenty million people and it’s STILL in the top three? Last year alone we jailed over 800,000 people for drugs, 87% for cannabis possession alone. What’s wrong with this picture?
At this time 47 percent of the US population has smoked cannabis at some time and it’s estimated that more than twenty five million people use it regularly in this country. Compare the numbers for other drugs and that explains the drug war. If it weren’t for cannabis there would be no drug war. The worst part of this is that people who can benefit medically from this plant are persecuted and put in jail to die. It’s not bad enough that students loose college grants and don’t qualify for student loans, even though murderers get them, or that otherwise law abiding citizens have their children taken away, even though alcoholics don’t, or that hundreds of thousands of people have lost or are refused jobs when this isn’t true for alcoholics, but we still have to make sure that all the sick and dieing people who use cannabis as medicine are put in jail and refused treatment as well.
Yes, we hate drugs, but it’s time we understand the term “Harm Reduction”. We need to re-examine what we can do to remove as much harm from drugs as possible. Including the harm we cause. That’s real compassion. What can we do to start? How about removing those sick and dieing people who need cannabis as medicine from this Drug War? We need medical cannabis laws in North Dakota for two reasons. To show our population that we care for them and to show the Federal Government that there is one more state that supports the science of cannabis and not the politics. Please contact the Medical Cannabis Association of North Dakota at www.mcand.info or email medcanassnd@yahoo.com to help.
Del Snavely
(The MCAND and its web site no longer exists.)
