NORML: The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws

I am a very strong advocate of the Prohibition of Marijuana and the Marijuana laws in America. Countless people are sitting in jail (that we are paying for) for personal use of marijuana, people just like you and me, people who have never committed an illegal act beside smoking marijuana, usually in the privacy of their own homes. We could use the revenue from the taxes implemented by the government, just like alcohol!! HHMM think about it, alcohol kills thousands of people a year, DUI's, Liver damage, Alcohol poisoning, etc.. If the government can sell and make money off of this dangerous substance, then why not make money off of something that in most cases only causes relaxation and the occasional munchies!! If you agree then make your voice count! If you don't agree that's okay too, everyone has their own opinions. But by all means if you want to bash others for doing it please don't do it after you've had your drink!!

The following is an article from NORML

Criminal Marijuana Prohibition Is A Failure

By any objective standard, marijuana prohibition is an abject failure.
Nationwide, U.S. law enforcement have arrested over 20 million American citizens for marijuana offenses since 1965, yet today marijuana is more prevalent than ever before, adolescents have easier access to marijuana than ever before, the drug is on average more potent than ever before, and there is more violence associated with the illegal marijuana trade than ever before.
Over 100 million Americans nationally have used marijuana despite prohibition, and one in ten – according to current government survey data – use it regularly. The criminal prohibition of marijuana has not dissuaded anyone from using marijuana or reduced its availability; however, the strict enforcement of this policy has adversely impacted the lives and careers of millions of people who simply elected to use a substance to relax that is objectively safer than alcohol.

The Case For Legalization/Regulation

Regulation = Controls

• Controls regarding who can legally produce marijuana
• Controls regarding who can legally distribute marijuana
• Controls regarding who can legally consume marijuana
• Controls regarding where adults can legally use marijuana and under what circumstances is such use legally permitted

Prohibition = the absence of controls – This absence of control jeopardizes rather than promotes public safety

• Prohibition abdicates the control of marijuana production and distribution to criminal entrepreneurs, such as drug cartels, street gangs, drug dealers who push additional illegal substances
• Prohibition provides young people with easier access to marijuana than alcohol (CASA, 2009)
• Prohibition promotes the use of marijuana in inappropriate settings, such as in automobiles, in public parks, or in public restrooms.
• Prohibition promotes disrespect for the law, and reinforces ethnic and generation divides between the public and law enforcement. (For example, according to a recent NORML report, an estimated 75 percent of all marijuana arrestees are under age 30; further, African Americans account for only 12 percent of marijuana users but comprise 23 percent of all possession arrests)

Defining Marijuana Legalization/Regulation

What would marijuana regulation look like?

• There are many models of regulation; depending on the substance being regulated these regulations can be very loose (apples, tomatoes) or very strict (alcohol, tobacco, prescription drugs)

The alcohol model of regulation:

• Commercial production is limited to licensed producers (though non-retail, home production is also allowed)
• Quality control and potency is regulated by the state, and the potency of the product is made publicly available to the consumer
• Retail sale of the product is limited to state licensed distributors (liquor stores, restaurants, bars, package stores, etc.)
• The state imposes strict controls on who may obtain the product (no minors), where they may legally purchase it (package store, liquor store, etc.), when they may legally purchase it (sales limited to certain hours of the day), and how much they may purchase at one time (bars/restaurants may not legally service patrons who are visibly intoxicated, states like Pennsylvania limit how much alcohol a patron may purchase at a licensed store, etc.).
• The state imposes strict regulations prohibiting use in public (no open container in public parks, or beaches, or in an automobile) and/or furnishing the product to minors
• The state imposes strict regulations limiting the commercial advertising of the product (limits have been imposed on the type of marketing and where such marketing may appear)
• States and counties retain the right to revoke the retail sale of the product, or certain types of alcohol (grain alcohol, malt liquor, etc), altogether (dry counties)

Please check out more about NORML at: http://norml.org/index.cfm

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