Last week, I attended a press conference at the downtown Seattle offices of the ACLU with travel show host Rick Steves. Many people know Rick Steves from his television shows or his books, but one thing that many people don’t know about him is that he’s been a longtime advocate of reforming our marijuana laws. Having spent so much time in Europe, it’s given him a broader perspective on what works and what doesn’t when it comes to dealing with the problems of drug abuse and drug addiction. For example, in a country like Holland, where adults can walk into a licensed coffeeshop and purchase marijuana without penalty, fewer adults and teens use it than here in America, where we still try to send sick people to jail for using it as medicine on the false premise that doing otherwise would “send the wrong message to our kids”.
The contrast between the two approaches is clear for anyone who is willing to put aside the overwraught exaggerations of the dangers of this drug and simply look at the facts. Towards this end, Steves has set up a new website at MarijuanaConversation.org and released a half-hour infomercial-style video that discusses the history and the current state of this country’s war on marijuana. The video is available to Comcast Digital Cable subscribers through On Demand and will eventually be seen on some of the state’s major network affiliates. I’ve already seen the video myself, and I’m hoping that it reaches a wide audience in the state. Little of what was presented was new to me, but it will likely be surprising to those who’ve only learned about marijuana from sources with an incentive to maintain its illegal status.
The national prohibition of marijuana didn’t even begin until 1937 in this country. Before that time, and especially as far back as in colonial days, the hemp plant was a valued resource. It was used for ropes and sails and both The Constitution and the Declaration of Independence were written on hemp parchment. It wasn’t until the early 20th century that there were attempts to make hemp’s psychoactive relative, which had always been known by the term cannabis, illegal. A man named Harry J. Anslinger was put in charge of the new Federal Bureau of Narcotics, which was made up of a number of federal employees whose jobs were rendered useless by the end of alcohol prohibition in 1932. In an attempt to preserve those jobs, he proceeded to drum up a lot of fear about the use of cannabis. In order to draw on America’s racial fears, he began referring to it as ‘marihuana,’ which was the Mexican term for the drug. Despite opposition from a number of medical professionals, Anslinger’s propaganda campaign, which incredibly claimed that marijuana was “the most violence-causing drug in the history of mankind” actually worked, and it was made illegal through the Marijuana Tax Stamp Act of 1937.
While marijuana use at that time was fairly limited, the 60s brought about a massive increase in the drug’s popularity. It became a symbol of the counter-culture movement that was challenging many of the more socially conservative norms that developed through the Depression and World War II. When Richard Nixon was in the White House in 1970, he assigned a special commission to look at the dangers of this increased level of use and to recommend solutions. The Shafer Commission surprised Nixon by saying that marijuana is not very dangerous at all and recommending that it should be decriminalized. Nixon completely ignored the commission and launched what we now know as the modern “war on drugs.”
Today, nearly 100 million Americans have used marijuana, including our current and former Presidents, and numerous members of Congress. Yet it still remains illegal under federal law for anyone in this country to possess it or grow it. Over 800,000 people were arrested last year on marijuana offenses, over 700,000 for simple possession. Minorities, especially blacks, are more likely than whites to be arrested for possession and more likely to go to jail for it. While few of those 700,000 actually do serve jail time, the overall costs to taxpayers for maintaining this nationwide prohibition amounts from somewhere between $7 billion and $40 billion per year, depending on whether or not you try to factor in the potential revenue from taxing its sale. It is currently this country’s #1 cash crop.
As the generation who grew up in the 1960s nears retirement age, many of them have been finding that marijuana really does have the medical uses that the physicians in the 1930s said it did before being shouted down by Anslinger’s angry mob. Thirteen states now have laws that allow medical marijuana use when approved by a doctor, but the Bush Administration continues to deem those laws invalid under federal law, sending federal agents throughout those states to close down medical marijuana facilities that are legal under their respective state laws. Despite petitions and lawsuits, marijuana is still classified as a Schedule I drug, meaning that the federal government deems it to have no medical use and to be more dangerous than both cocaine and amphetamines. In another rebuke to that ridiculous classification, the American College of Physicians, a group of 124,000 doctors, gave their endorsement last week for the medical use of marijuana.
I’m hoping for the best when it comes to this effort by Steves to start a new conversation and to reach out to more people with the message that our approach to marijuana in this country is fundamentally flawed. There’s a major divide between how the politically active online community sees our marijuana laws and how it’s viewed among other demographics. I get very little disagreement when I discuss marijuana legalization online, even from many of the right-wing folks who disagree with me on almost everything else. The unnecessary cost to taxpayers and the overbearing nanny state aspect of the federal marijuana prohibition resonate with conservatives, while the racial disparities and the effects on voting eligibility and the lack of opportunity for those with past convictions resonate with liberals. But Steves’ message is powerful because it reaches another very large group: parents.
As anyone who’s ever watched his travel show knows, Rick Steves has a family, and a big part of why he’s doing this is because he sees our marijuana laws as a detriment, rather than a benefit, for his own kids. Like any good parent, he doesn’t want his children to be involved with marijuana. But through his travels, he’s discovered that our marijuana laws are extremely counterproductive on that front. By choosing outright prohibition instead of a model that allows for the strict regulation of its sale for adults, it’s actually much easier for children in this country to get marijuana than it is for them to get a bottle of whiskey or a pack of cigarettes. The person who sells marijuana doesn’t check ID and doesn’t face a strict penalty for selling to a minor. As a result, young people themselves often become part of the supply chain. This is something that happened during alcohol prohibition as well and was one of the big reasons why many people began to turn their backs on that failed social experiment. The special that he recorded hits this point extremely well and I imagine that it will resonate with a lot of parents in this country who have seen marijuana prohibition both as children and adults. While they certainly don’t want their kids to be involved with drugs, as one young mother in the audience noted, it’s much worse for a young person to have a criminal record. And that’s why it’s time to start this conversation now.
UPDATE: SeattleTammy sent me an email with a link to a review she wrote of Burning Rainbow Farm, one of the best books for grasping the sheer lunacy of marijuana prohibition. If you’re in Seattle and want a copy, head to Jackson Street Books and grab one.
While they certainly don’t want their kids to be involved with drugs, as one young mother in the audience noted, it’s much worse for a young person to have a criminal record.
Funny that Rick steves doesn’t want his children to be involved with pot, the devil weed.
Well, as long as that one young mother doesn’t want her kids to have a criminal record, let’s legalize speeding and street racing. Probably much easier than her doing her job teaching her offspring to obey the law.
My sis and first brother in law used to grow pot up in Metaline Falls. When I was visiting one time he went to buy a couple more metal halide lights. On the counter of the grow shop were petitions to keep pot illegal. Go figure.
Something tell me this thread is going to have more knees jerking than Carter used to have pills.
Coward @ 1.
Alcohol is leagal for adults, not children. That’s what is being promoted for pot use. Adults only. Grow up.
“Well, as long as that one young mother doesn’t want her kids to have a criminal record, let’s legalize speeding and street racing.”
This is as dumb as saying we can’t legalize gay marriage because people will start marrying goats.
Oh yes, the Dutch and their coffee shops…if it would just be that easy. Those shops were initiated in the 70’s and 80’s as a way to fight and handle the illegal use drug use, mostly in Amsterdam. Drugs purchased there could only be used in the “cafe” and not taken out or consumed anywhere else. Over the past few years, crime has increased tremendously around those shops (not only geographically, but also related to them) and the Dutch government is considering to close “shop” on those. Unfortunately, they are also getting over 400 Million Dollar in taxes from those 729 coffee shops so closing them will not come from one day to the next. Ricky is full of it (maybe smoked too much ?) claiming it’s so easy. Just because he’s a travel show host makes him an expert in drug issues ? Or just because he’s “famous” makes you think his views are valuable ? Hey, Lindsay Lohan or Brittney are famous too and would support your habit as well…go for it :-)
But Holland is by no means happy with the current development and the criminal aspects of drug use is catching up (yes, criminal drug use in Holland)
For the “where’s your link” fanatics…just one example in english (I doubt you guys can read dutch or german)
http://www.spiegel.de/internat.....78,00.html
Joe: The more drugs you use…the easier it might get for you :-)
The $40 billion number is still conservative, after law enforcement, procecution, prison, and taxing you have to also consider lost revenue from people who HAD jobs that are now sitting in jail cells.
Not all people who are arrested for possesion, especially, for pot, are just drug dealers. Most, people who use pot are people who have jobs they go to everyday, are otherwise law abiding, tax paying, voting citizens.
Dutch @ 4 & 5:
@ 4) Should we ban alcohol?
@ 5) It easy for me because I have reasoning skills. Wish you could say the same.
Flicking through right-wing radio last night one of the comments I heard was that having dorky Rick Steves promoting pot might be the most effective thing ever done to keep kids from smoking pot. I think the wingers might have gotten something right for once.
I agree that the way we treat drugs and the “war” on drugs is kind of silly and different from most of the world – but the headline also grabbed me – are we just starting the conversation on marijuana or are we conducting the conversation while on marijuana.
Also – this is not your mother’s pot. This stuff is much more potent than the placebo you may have smoked years ago.
Your hunger pains will be real this time….and the people I know that have used the stuff a long time – well, let’s just say that the motivation is not very strong for excelling in some of the more important aspects of life.
@1
Well, as long as that one young mother doesn’t want her kids to have a criminal record, let’s legalize speeding and street racing.
Speeding and street racing can kill you. Pot can’t.
@4
The problem highlighted in that article has a very simple solution, one that the Dutch government has been hamstrung by the UN to do, and that’s to oversee the production of marijuana. Now that the EU has eliminated border patrolling, there’s no barrier to growing it in Germany. Either way, Holland has less organized crime than the U.S., fewer drug deaths, and far fewer drug users.
@9
Yes, pot is arguably much more potent today due to advanced growing techniques and better cross-breeding, but I’ve been a pot smoker for over a decade now and it certainly hasn’t turned me into a sloth. In fact, I find that it motivates me to take on new challenges in life.
I’ve said it before on this topic. I blame the toughening of drug law on Nelson Rockefeller. He was a liberal Republican (remember them?) still seeking national office as his party drifted right. He wanted to prove how tough he was. Hence the Rockefeller Drug Laws.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rockefeller_drug_laws
I remember the average price going from $20 to $45 an ounce with a corresponding increase in strength. I do not recall a decrease in availability.
It’s been a very long time since I’ve checked the market.
K- With some of your posts I think the jury is out…
Whatever, pud
…the illegality of cannabis is outrageous, an impediment to full utilization of a drug which helps produce the serenity and insight, sensitivity and fellowship so desperately needed in this increasingly mad and dangerous world.
Read more of my thoughts here
http://www.marijuana-uses.com/essays/002.html
Pot has no effect on memory…. or at least that is what I recall… I think??? Ah, nevermind.
Pot is for PUSSIES! ahe ahe ahe.. I mean, what kind of week kneed pansy doesn’t know that COCAINE RULES!
Can’t get enough of it.. ahe ahe ahe
@14
Thanks. I actually have a poster with that Sagan quote on it. :)
I love rum and coke. I drink it all the time, especially when driving.
15
Did you inhale??? Makes a big difference…just ask my wife Hillary.
@14 hey thanks for that! im surprised ive never seen it before. that needs to make the rounds on myspace, will do.
The marijuana issue is one of the most irritating stupidities in this nation. Let me help confuse matters:
1. Periodically i review the literature almost in the hope that someone will fu8nd something as “bad” about pot as … well say, coffee. No way Jose. The worst I can find is this:
a. some possible loss of reflexes after years and tears of use with no evidence that this loss has any functional significance. Certainly less than the effects of getting older.
b. a reasonabkle suspicion that joints geenrates oem cola tars, like any other smoled vegetable matter, and therefore might contribute to cancer (no evidence just might).
c. when raised over one’s head, a heavy bail of MJ, can .. whehn suddenly released, be lethal. (true story).
So, my best guess, as a scientist whose expertise makes it possible to read this literature, is that MJ is great in brownies. BTW fine chocolate also has THC so next time valentines day, ..
2. Given our many other arbitrary laws … against prostitution, polyandry and polygamy, use of FUCKPISSSHIT but not HATEGUNSKILL on TV, public nudity, spanking kids, breast feeding, display of lingerie, trespassing on waterfront properties, consumption of horse meat, suicide, tits on the tube, foot tapping in public restrooms, hate speech,
and given our laws that PERMIT
Tobacco, Nyquil, Nodoze, motorcycles, guns, religious obsession, symbolic eating of divine flesh (funny this is OK but “devil worship” is not), mountian climbing, professional boxing and football, FAUX TV, sitcoms, Reilly, pro wrestling, Limbaugh, loud music, excess perfume …..
I guess a law against marijuana is pretty consistent with the rest of it.
.
PSSSSST …please keep the THC content of chocolate a SECRET. My wife wold kill me if anything I did led to her vitamin C becoming illegal!
It’s a waste of time, money, and human potential to prosecute marijuana use as a crime. Marijuana use should be treated the same as other drugs with similar effect, such as nicotine or alcohol. There is no rational reason for continuing our current prohibition on marijuana. The harm from criminalization far outweighs the harm prevented from the use of marijuana.
@4
Um, Dutch — you do understand the article you referenced just shows how bad things get when a government tries to have it both ways (i.e. tax marijuana and prudishly ban it), right? You do understand the article does not contain a single bad effect of smoking pot in and of itself, right? Thus, you understand that you’ve just negated your own point, right?
Why do the Drugs Warriors always sound less coherent than the most stereotypical pothead? Is it happiness envy?
@22 Rather than ban Marijuana we should regulate it so that
there would be no problem with quality of weed grown in China on human waste or folks substituting oregano for weed.
Also, when MJ is legalized, we should protect the right by making it illegal to vote within 24 hours of taking MJ. This of course will mean that urine tests will have to be done at all polling places and no more mail in ballots. The new Deck-stir 500 voting machines include the ability to
collect a sample while you vote. Unfortunately they are male anatomy specific.
I am also worried about folks replacing one weed habut, tobacco, with another. To orevent this we must be sure that marijuana is made cheap, good, and readily available. My own fave of an idea is allowing it to become a flavor so foks can buy Marijuana flavored yogurt or drink diet Pepsi with MJ.
Of course, as the drug of choice, there will be an upscale market for estate grown MJ. This could be a boon for the Washington State wine industry. Of ocurse we MUST insit on proper labelling. BC bud must only come form BS and we wukk want Federal laws to guarantee that only Wally’s Weed from canoe ridge bears that name.
Personally, I look forward to tour of weed country. A little cheese, some gewurtz and aan MJ brownie …mmmm mmmm good!
#3 Joe King is really GBS says:
My bad. In my ignorance I thought underage kids drank and got drunk. Thanks for setting me straight.
Still haven’t gotten that email from you.
@25
My bad. In my ignorance I thought underage kids drank and got drunk. Thanks for setting me straight.
As I pointed out in the post above, Marvin, American teenagers find it much easier to obtain marijuana that to obtain alcohol. In fact, reducing access to children is one of the major reasons that Steves has taken the position he’s taken. Of course, no one is saying that kids would never be able to obtain it ever again, but legalizing would certainly make it more difficult.
Marijuanna should have never been made illegal in the first place. Time to finally end Prohibition.
@27
Amen. Hope that you keep speaking up about this, PI. It’s appreciated.
#10 Lee says:
Really, I always thought it was the crashing that killed.
@29
Are you saying that you can’t crash while speeding or street racing?
I would rather be around pot smoke than cigarette smoke. I’ve always been curious why the smell of pot smoke is gone within minutes, with no lingering stench. Cigarettes on the other hand will stink up a room for literally years. Walk into any dive bar and you can STILL smell the stench of cigarettes that were smoked in there prior to 2005.
Lee @ 28,
I’ll always be talking about sane drug policies. This neo-nazi Drug Envorcement Agency insanity has gone on too long. The victim in the drug war is personal freedom. If people like to enjoy the relaxing effects of marijuanna in the privacy of their own homes, then that’s their business. It’s just the same as enjoying a couple of hard drinks before bed a couple of nights a week.
I may not agree with much else that’s written here, but I will always agree with changing the current un-workable drug policies in effect now.
The scientists from the University of Auckland, New Zealand, say their study is the first proof that there is a link between using cannabis and accidents.
…
It was found that habitual cannabis users were 9.5 times more likely to be involved in crashes…
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4498419.stm
#30 Lee says:
Nope. If someone lacks driving skills, they can crash at legal speeds.
People who drive after using marijuana are nearly twice as likely to be involved in a fatal car crash.
http://www.webmd.com/mental-he.....-car-crash
@33
So. Then doesn’t that mean that we should move to a marijuana policy that ends up with fewer people using marijuana (like Holland)?
The reality is that irresponsible people tend to use marijuana, not that marijuana makes you irresponsible. The study you cited shows correlation, not causation.
#30 Lee says:
Nope. If someone lacks driving skills, they can crash at legal speeds.
People who drive after using marijuana are nearly twice as likely to be involved in a fatal car crash.
http://tinyurl.com/2uy8ll
@35
Nope. If someone lacks driving skills, they can crash at legal speeds.
That has nothing to do with what I asked. Are you actually going to argue that street racing doesn’t have a higher risk of crashing than normal everyday driving?
As for your second link, I (and numerous others) have thoroughly debunked that French study. In fact, even by their own calculations, pot LOWERS the likelihood of being in a fatal crash when you correct for alcohol. I even had an email exchange with one of the clueless French researchers who was unable to explain how they ended up with conclusions that were disproven by their own data. I posted it here:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/12/16/19548/477
I’d just like to say that I am 52 years old and have been smoking pot for 38 years, since the good old days of Panama Red and Alcapulco Gold. Back in the early 70’s the attitude about marijuana was still pretty relaxed and people weren’t being hauled off to prison for it. When I started going to concerts in 1968 you could light up a doobie with a cop standing 10 feet away from you, but for some reason that all changed. Nothing really happened to make it illegal, it just was. Maybe because there was so much of it at the time, with the Viet Nam war still going on and it was being flown home, or the government couldn’t figure out a way to tax the revenue it generates. But nobody stopped smoking it just because it suddenly became illegal. There were still head shops everywhere that sold an array of paraphenalia, with every flavor rolling paper imagineable. It was really no big deal. Then when the war on drugs kicked in full swing, everyone went underground and the head shop had to operate in the ‘back room’.
I discouraged my own kids from smoking it when they were young. I aslo discouraged them from drinking. As adults, one of them smokes and the other doesn’t, but has. With all the studies that have been done they still haven’t come up with a solid reason to make me stop, just like they had no reason to back in 1970. They’ve been trying to find something to scare people with for years. They can’t even agree if it’s addicting or not. Personally, I can go away on vacation for a week and not suffer shakes, sweats or cravings so I don’t buy the addiction arguement. There’s no reason why it can’t go back to being a personal choice like alcohol, which in my opinion is far more dangerous with proven health risks, which is why I don’t drink. I watched how it slowly killed my father.
Just my 2 cents
#37
I believe more people die from non-street racing accidents. Since you are so much like that cartoon you posted, no doubt you’ll find a link to prove me wrong… that more people die from street racing.
@39
I believe more people die from non-street racing accidents.
Of course they do. But the percentage of people who die in a fatal crash from street racing is much higher than the percentage of people who die from normal, sober driving. Exactly when in elementary school did you stop taking math classes?
#40 Lee says:
Oh, percentage is what matters. What percentage of herion addicts smoke(d) pot? What percentage of lsd users smoke(d) pot? What percentage of crack users smoke(d) pot?
I find it hard to believe that this Marvin Stamn is older than 10 years old but then I guess children can get access to a computer.
Stupidity knows few, if any, bounds