XPost: alt.support.marijuana, seattle.politics, or.politics   
   XPost: ca.politics   
   From: a425couple@hotmail.com   
      
   Marijuana’s true potency and why the law should change   
      
   (Yes McKay is a Republican!  And he actively worked for   
   marijuana's legalization in Washington.)   
      
   Originally published September 3, 2010 at 2:59 pm Updated September 3,   
   2010 at 5:01 pm   
      
   The U.S. war against marijuana has failed and actually threatens public   
   safety and rests on false medical assumptions. Guest columnist John   
   McKay, Seattle's former U.S. attorney, argues why the laws against   
   marijuana should be changed.   
      
   By John McKay   
   I DON’T smoke pot. And I pretty much think people who do are idiots.   
      
   This certainly includes Marc Emery, the self-styled “Prince of Pot” from   
   Canada whom I indicted in 2005 for peddling marijuana seeds to every   
   man, woman and child with an envelope and a stamp. Emery recently   
   pleaded guilty and will be sentenced this month in Seattle, where he   
   faces five years in federal prison. If changing U.S. marijuana policy   
   was ever Emery’s goal, the best that can be said is that he took the   
   wrong path.   
      
   As Emery’s prosecutor and a former federal law-enforcement official,   
   however, I’m not afraid to say out loud what most of my former   
   colleagues know is true: Our marijuana policy is dangerous and wrong and   
   should be changed through the legislative process to better protect the   
   public safety.   
      
   Congress has failed to recognize what many already know about our policy   
   of criminal prohibition of marijuana — it has utterly failed. Listed by   
   the U.S. government as a “Schedule One” drug alongside heroin, the   
   demand for marijuana in this country for decades has outpaced the   
   ability of law enforcement to eliminate it. Perhaps this is because   
   millions of Americans smoke pot regularly and international drug   
   cartels, violent gangs and street pushers work hard to reap the profits.   
      
   Most Read Stories   
   What you need to know as tax filing season begins   
   Amazon rolls out celebs for 90-second Alexa Super Bowl commercial  WATCH   
   ‘This never happens’: International student’s unexpected ordeal ends   
   with surprise twist   
   Huskies relaunch program with win over Arizona | Matt Calkins   
   Washington stuns No. 9 Arizona 78-75 with Dominic Green’s buzzer beater   
   Unlimited Digital Access. $1 for 4 weeks.   
   Law-enforcement agencies are simply not capable of interdicting all of   
   this pot and despite some successes have not succeeded in thwarting   
   criminals who traffic and sell marijuana. Brave agents and cops continue   
   to risk their lives in a futile attempt to enforce misguided laws that   
   do not match the realities of our society.   
      
   These same agents and cops, along with prosecutors, judges and jailers,   
   know we can’t win by arresting all those involved in the massive   
   importation, growth or distribution of marijuana, nor by locking up all   
   the pot smokers. While many have argued the policy is unjust, few have   
   addressed the dangerously potent black market the policy itself has   
   created for exploitation by Mexican and other international drug cartels   
   and gangs. With the proceeds from the U.S. marijuana black market, these   
   criminals distribute dangerous drugs and kill each other (too often   
   along with innocent bystanders) with American-purchased guns.   
      
   Our wrongheaded policy on marijuana has also failed to address the true   
   health threat posed by its use. While I suspect nothing good can come to   
   anyone from the chronic ingestion of marijuana smoke, its addictive   
   quality and health risk pale in comparison with other banned drugs such   
   as heroin, cocaine or meth. Informed adult choice, albeit a bad one, may   
   well be preferable to the legal and policy meltdown we have long been   
   suffering over marijuana.   
      
   Not only does our policy directly threaten our public safety and rest   
   upon false medical assumptions, but our national laws are now in direct   
   and irreconcilable conflict with state laws, including Washington state.   
   So called “medical” marijuana reaches precious few patients and backdoor   
   potheads mock legitimate medical use by glaucoma and chemotherapy   
   patients. State laws are trumped by federal laws that recognize no such   
   thing as “medicinal” or “personal” use and are no defense to arrests by   
   federal agents and prosecution in federal courts.   
      
   So the policy is wrong, the law has failed, the public is endangered, no   
   one in law enforcement is talking about it and precious few policymakers   
   will honestly face the soft-on-crime sound bite in their next elections.   
   What should be done?   
      
   • First, we need to honestly and courageously examine the true   
   public-safety danger posed by criminalizing a drug used by millions and   
   millions of Americans who ignore the law. Marijuana prohibition has   
   failed — it’s time for a new policy crafted by informed policymakers   
   with the help of those in law enforcement who have risked their lives   
   battling pot-purveying drug cartels and gangs.   
      
      
   • Second, let’s talk about marijuana policy responsibly and with an eye   
   toward sound science, not myth. We can start by acknowledging that our   
   1930s-era marijuana prohibition was overkill from the beginning and   
   should be decoupled from any debate about “legalizing drugs.” We should   
   study and disclose the findings of the real health risks of prolonged   
   use, including its influence and effect on juveniles.   
      
   • Third, we should give serious consideration to heavy regulation and   
   taxation of the marijuana industry (an industry that is very real and   
   dangerously underground). We should limit pot’s content of the active   
   ingredient THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), regulate its sale to adults who   
   are dumb enough to want it and maintain criminal penalties for sales,   
   possession or use by minors, drivers and boaters.   
      
   Federal criminal law should give way to regulation, while prohibiting   
   interstate violation of federal laws consistent with this approach. In   
   short, policymakers should strive for a regulatory and criminal scheme   
   like the one guarding that other commodity that failed miserably at   
   prohibition, alcohol.   
      
   As my law-enforcement colleagues know well from chasing bootleggers and   
   mobsters, this new regulatory and criminal approach will still require   
   many years of intensive investigation and enforcement before organized   
   criminal elements are driven from the vast marijuana market. DEA and its   
   law-enforcement partners must therefore remain well equipped and staffed   
   to accomplish this task: to protect our families from truly dangerous   
   drugs and to drive drug cartels, gangs and dope dealers from our society.   
      
   John McKay is a law professor at Seattle University and the Marijuana’s   
   true potency and why the law should change   
   Originally published September 3, 2010 at 2:59 pm Updated September 3,   
   2010 at 5:01 pm   
      
      
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)