Let's Not Stop at Marijuana Legalization
By Norm Stamper
AlterNet
December 14, 2009

A new poll shows that most Americans are ready to legalize marijuana,
but not drugs like cocaine or heroin. A 34-year police vet says it's
time to legalize them all.
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These days, it seems like everyone is talking in earnest about marijuana
legalization, once dismissed as little more than a Cheech and Chong pipe
dream. Indeed, a new poll reveals that 53 percent of Americans now
support ending marijuana prohibition.

Bolstered by increasing public support for something once considered to
be a political third rail, lawmakers from Rhode Island to Washington
State have put the issue on the table for consideration. And citizen
initiatives (particularly in California) are cropping up faster than
ditch weed.

These are welcome developments to a retired police chief like me who
oversaw the arrests of countless people for marijuana and other drugs,
but saw no positive impact from all the blood, sweat and tears (and
money) put into the effort. Soon, it seems, cops may no longer have to
waste time and risk lives enforcing pot laws that don’t actually prevent
anyone from using marijuana.

Yet, I'm alarmed that the above-mentioned poll showing majority support
for marijuana legalization also found that fewer than one in 10 people
agree that it's time to end the prohibition of other drugs.

This no doubt makes sense to some readers at first glance, since more
people are familiar with marijuana than other drugs like cocaine, heroin
or meth. However, even a cursory study of our drug war policies will
reveal that legalizing pot but not other drugs will leave huge social
harms unresolved.

Legalizing marijuana only will not:

• Stop gangs from selling other drugs to our kids (since illegal drug
dealers rarely check for ID);

• Stop drug dealers from brutally murdering rival traffickers for the
purpose of controlling the remaining criminal market for other drugs;

• Stop drug dealers from firing on cops charged with fighting the
senseless war on other illicit drugs;

• Stop drug dealers from killing kids caught in crossfire and drive-by
shootings;

• Stop overdose deaths of drug users who refrain from calling 911 out of
fear of legal repercussions;

• Reduce the spread of infectious diseases like AIDS and hepatitis,
since marijuana users don’t inject their drug like heroin users (who
sometimes share dirty needles and syringes because prohibition makes it
hard to secure clean ones);

• Stop the bloody cartel battles in Mexico that are rapidly expanding
over the border into the U.S;

• Stop the Taliban from raking in massive profits from illegal opium
cultivation in Afghanistan.

Of course, none of this means that our rapidly growing marijuana
legalization movement should slow down.

On the contrary, as the polls show, a majority of Americans understand
that legalizing marijuana will produce many benefits. No longer will
800,000 people a year be arrested on pot charges, their lives damaged if
not ruined; governments will be able to tax the popular commodity;
regulation and revenues will help forge and finance effective programs
of drug abuse prevention and treatment; and those vicious cartels will
lose as much as half their illicit profits when they can no longer sell
marijuana.

Further, once people get used to the idea of allowing legal sales of the
previously banned drug we'll be able to point to successful regulation
as a model for similar treatment of all other currently illicit substances.

Marijuana legalization is a great step in the direction of sane and
sensible drug policy. But we reformers must remember that we’re working
to legalize drugs not because we think they are safe, but because
prohibition is far more dangerous to users and nonusers alike.
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Norm Stamper, a member of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, is a
34-year police veteran and served as Seattle's chief of police from
1994-2000. He is the author of "Breaking Rank: A Top Cop's Exposé of the
Dark Side of American Policing."
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Tom Angell, Media Relations Director
Law Enforcement Against Prohibition
http://www.CopsSayLegalizeDrugs.com
Washington, D.C.
phone: (202) 557-4979 // e-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
AIM: ThisIsTomAngell // GChat: tomangell
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