Would you favor on tax on marijuana if legalized? On Jan 14, 12:49 pm, Fritz_da_Cat <[email protected]> wrote: > http://www.freepress.org/departments/display/8/2009/3343 > > (entire article) > > The parallels between the 1933 coming of Franklin Roosevelt and the > upcoming inauguration of Barack Obama must include the issue of > Prohibition: alcohol in 1933, and marijuana today. As FDR did back > then, Obama must now help end an utterly failed, socially destructive, > reactionary crusade. > > Marijuana prohibition is a core cause of many of the nation's economic > problems. It now costs the U.S. tens of billions per year to track, > arrest, try, defend and imprison marijuana consumers who pose little, > if any, harm to society. The social toll soars even higher when we > account for social violence, lost work, ruined careers and damaged > families. In 2007, 775,137 people were arrested in the U.S. for mere > possession of this ancient crop, according to the FBI’s uniform crime > report. > > Like the Prohibition on alcohol that plagued the nation from 1920 to > 1933, marijuana prohibition (which essentially began in 1937) feeds > organized crime and a socially useless prison-industrial complex that > includes judges, lawyers, police, guards, prison contractors, and > more. > > A dozen states have now passed public referenda confirming medical > uses for marijuana based on voluminous research dating back 5,000 > years. Confirmed medicinal uses for marijuana include treatment for > glaucoma, hypertension, arthritis, pain relief, nausea relief, > reducing muscle spasticity from spinal cord injuries and multiple > sclerosis, and diminishing tremors in multiple sclerosis patients. > Medical reports also prove smoked marijuana provides relief from > migraine headaches, depression, seizures, and insomnia, according to > NORML. In recent years its use has become critical to thousands of > cancer and AIDS sufferers who need to it to maintain their appetite > while undergoing chemotherapy. > > The U.S. ban on marijuana extends to include hemp, one of the most > widely used agricultural products in human history. Unlike many other > industrial crops, hemp is powerful and prolific in a natural state, > requiring no pesticides, herbicides, extraordinary fertilizing or > inappropriate irrigation. Its core products include paper, cloth, > sails, rope, cosmetics, fuel, supplements and food. Its seeds are a > potentially significant source of bio-diesel fuel, and its leaves and > stems an obvious choice for cellulosic ethanol, both critically > important for a conversion to a Solartopian renewable energy supply. > > Hemp was grown in large quantities by George Washington, Thomas > Jefferson, James Madison and many more of the nation's founders, most > of whom would likely be dumbfounded to hear it is illegal (based on > entries in Washington's agricultural diaries, referring to the > separation of male and female plants, it's likely he and his cohorts > also raised an earlier form of "medicinal" marijuana). > > Hemp growing was mandatory in some circumstances in early America, and > again during World War II, when virtually the entire state of Kansas > was planted in it. The current ban on industrial hemp costs the U.S. > billiions of dollars in lost production and revenue from a plant that > can produce superior paper, clothing, fuel and other critical > materials at a fraction the financial cost and environmental damage > imposed by less worthy sources. > > On January 16, 1919, fundamentalist crusaders help pass the 18th > Amendment, making the sale of alcohol illegal. The ensuing Prohibition > was by all accounts a ludicrous failure epitomized by gang violence > and lethal "amateur" product that added to the death toll. Its only > real winner was organized crime and the prison-industrial complex. > > In 1933, FDR helped pass the 21st Amendment repealing Prohibition, > which ended a costly era of gratuitous social repression and gave the > American economy---and psyche---a tangible boost. > > Marijuana prohibition was escalated with Richard Nixon's 1970 > declaration of the War on Drugs. There was a brief reprieve when Steve > Ford, the son of President Gerald Ford appeared on the cover of > Rolling Stone barefoot and claiming that the best place to smoke pot > was in the White House. In 1980, President Jimmy Carter’s last year in > office, 338,664 were arrested for marijuana possession. > > Ronald Reagan renewed the War on Drugs and declared his “Zero > Tolerance” policy, despite his daughter Patti Davis’ claim the Gipper > smoked weed with a major donor. Following Reagan, President George > Herbert Walker Bush recorded a low of 260,390 marijuana possession > arrests, but the numbers climbed again under Bill Clinton and George > W. Bush, both of whom are reported to have smoked it themselves > (though Clinton claims not to have inhaled). > > On a percentage basis, at least as many American high school students > smoke pot than students in Holland, where it is legal. In the midst of > the drug war, U.S. students report virtually unlimited access to a > wide range of allegedly controlled substances, including pot. Because > so many Americans use it, and it is so readily available, the war on > marijuana can only be seen as a virtually universal assault on the > basic liberties of our citizenry. > > In a 2005 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services survey, more > than 97 million Americans admitted to having tried marijuana at least > once. President-elect Obama makes it clear in his book Dreams From My > Father that he has smoked---and inhaled---marijuana (he is also > apparently addicted to a far more dangerous drug, tobacco). His > administration should tax marijuana rather than trying to repress it. > Like alcohol and tobacco, a minimum age for legal access should be set > at 21. > > As a whole, the violent, repressive War on Drugs has been forty years > of legal, cultural and economic catastrophe. Like FDR, Obama must end > our modern-day Prohibition, and with it the health-killing crusade > against this ancient, powerful medicinal herb. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum
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