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Wednesday, May 04, 20051115220000
More Persecution of Marijuana
"Marijuana Becomes Focus of Drug War: Less Emphasis on Heroin and Cocaine," by Dan Eggen, Washington Post, 4 May 2005, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/03/AR2005050301638.html (from Democratic Underground).
At least they aren't investigating real crimes of hunting terrorism or anything
The focus of the drug war in the United States has shifted significantly over the past decade from hard drugs to marijuana, which now accounts for nearly half of all drug arrests nationwide, according to an analysis of federal crime statistics released yesterday.
The study of FBI data by a Washington-based think tank, the Sentencing Project, found that the proportion of heroin and cocaine cases plummeted from 55 percent of all drug arrests in 1992 to less than 30 percent 10 years later. During the same period, marijuana arrests rose from 28 percent of the total to 45 percent.
It seems to be that the only legal justification for the federal government criminalizing some drugs would be the Amendment XIII
Section 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.
Section 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
A good argument might be made that a severly physically addictive drug is a de facto form of indentured servitude. But as this is a relatively loose definition, and the framers of this amendment had no problem with tobacco, the standard has to be very high
But marijuana? A non-addictive drug? One that doesn't "cause" violence like alcohol or addict users like nicotine? Why?
The answer is obvious: police puritans. There are movements actually opposed to physical pleasure. And not just opposed, but willing to use police powers to enforce their physically dreary society.
The Global War on Terror, the fight against infanticide, and civil society are all being sacrificed to make physical pleasure a crime.
Fortunately, our new Attorney General may be retooling the fight
The new statistics come amid signs of a renewed debate in political circles over the efficacy of U.S. drug policies, which have received less attention recently amid historically low crime rates and a focus on terrorism since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, for example, has formed a national committee to oversee prosecution of violent drug gangs and has vowed to focus more resources on the fight against methamphetamine manufacturers and other drug traffickers.
But it is not enough. Marijuana, and many other drugs, should be legalized. The current system is absurd.
10:20 Posted by Dan tdaxp (Webmaster) in Health Mullahs, Law | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this | Tags: marijuana, war on drugs