Opponents of Medical Marijuana Should Just Give Up
This month has brought some of the most high-profile backlash we've seen since Obama's new medical marijuana policy took effect. DEA raids of a grower and two laboratories in Colorado as well as an escalating campaign by the Los Angeles DA to completely prohibit sales on his turf have again raised the stakes in a debate that many believed was almost over.
Given the rich history of obstructionism and demagoguery we've learned to expect from hard-line drug warriors, none of this is terribly surprising. But in light of the current political climate, it's really rather unclear what the opposition's gameplan is. Who's calling the shots? What's their motive? How do they expect this to play out? Having lost one public battle after another, it seems the anti-medical marijuana crusaders would want to perform some sort of cost/benefit analysis before wading once again into the political waters where they've been slowly drowning for a decade now.
Does the DEA really want to defend raiding laboratories that do nothing but test cannabis for harmful impurities? What law-enforcement interest is served by this? They tried to frame it as an administrative matter necessitated by the lab's formal permit application, but they sure as hell didn't make an appointment before crashing in there. Maybe they're more interested in the clients than the lab itself, but even if you had a database of every medical grower in the state, what would you do with it? Arresting even one of them is a political minefield.
Similarly, Los Angeles DA Steve Cooley's efforts to ban sales are so far out of step with everything around him that it's just impossible to guess what he hopes to accomplish. Even Attorney General Brown's guidelines explicitly permit distribution and there's no question at all where the people of California stand on this. Cooley is playing with fire here and he should really get a hold of himself before his madness becomes Exhibit A for the full-legalization campaign that's hitting the ballot in California this Fall.
Under Bush, I tended to assume that periodic raids and harassment were a political strategy aimed at confusing legislators in prospective medical marijuana states, but the new DOJ policy preemptively nullifies whatever dubious value that tactic may have had. Presently, it seems that medical marijuana's most impassioned enemies are at war with an inevitable reality. This isn't going to go away because nobody wants that except you. A career in law-enforcement offers many opportunities to be a hero, but this isnât one of them.
Given the rich history of obstructionism and demagoguery we've learned to expect from hard-line drug warriors, none of this is terribly surprising. But in light of the current political climate, it's really rather unclear what the opposition's gameplan is. Who's calling the shots? What's their motive? How do they expect this to play out? Having lost one public battle after another, it seems the anti-medical marijuana crusaders would want to perform some sort of cost/benefit analysis before wading once again into the political waters where they've been slowly drowning for a decade now.
Does the DEA really want to defend raiding laboratories that do nothing but test cannabis for harmful impurities? What law-enforcement interest is served by this? They tried to frame it as an administrative matter necessitated by the lab's formal permit application, but they sure as hell didn't make an appointment before crashing in there. Maybe they're more interested in the clients than the lab itself, but even if you had a database of every medical grower in the state, what would you do with it? Arresting even one of them is a political minefield.
Similarly, Los Angeles DA Steve Cooley's efforts to ban sales are so far out of step with everything around him that it's just impossible to guess what he hopes to accomplish. Even Attorney General Brown's guidelines explicitly permit distribution and there's no question at all where the people of California stand on this. Cooley is playing with fire here and he should really get a hold of himself before his madness becomes Exhibit A for the full-legalization campaign that's hitting the ballot in California this Fall.
Under Bush, I tended to assume that periodic raids and harassment were a political strategy aimed at confusing legislators in prospective medical marijuana states, but the new DOJ policy preemptively nullifies whatever dubious value that tactic may have had. Presently, it seems that medical marijuana's most impassioned enemies are at war with an inevitable reality. This isn't going to go away because nobody wants that except you. A career in law-enforcement offers many opportunities to be a hero, but this isnât one of them.
Pot Wars - Battlefield California
The latest from Reason.tv:
War on Drugs Pales in Comparison to Legalized Health Care Industry
In 1971, the American government took its first step in the War on Drugs when President Richard Nixon declared the beginning of what would become a four-decade battle. Since then, according to Esquire Magazine, its costs have ballooned to $52.3 billion dollars in taxpayer funds and 15,223 dead in 2009 alone.
But the truly egregious fact is that the government, on one hand, punishes offenders for minor offenses, yet sanctions and encourages the $291 billion dollar prescription drug industry because it is backed by powerful lobbyists on K Street.
photo credit: RESchroeder The situation has become so sordid that almost 50 million Americans are uninsured, according to health insurance provider, "Affordable Health Insurance." These Americans are growing quickly as a result of the economic malaise of 2008-2009, and because they pay inflated prices for government-sanctioned drugs they've opted not to pay the equally inflated premiums for health plans with prescription coverage. It's time for Congress to act and stop the untrammeled, exponential growth in drug costs by ending the War on Drugs and legalizing certain non-debilitating and clinically proven drugs on the free market. After all, a free market will ensure lower prices for all, lower health care costs, and a better quality of life.
photo credit: RESchroeder The situation has become so sordid that almost 50 million Americans are uninsured, according to health insurance provider, "Affordable Health Insurance." These Americans are growing quickly as a result of the economic malaise of 2008-2009, and because they pay inflated prices for government-sanctioned drugs they've opted not to pay the equally inflated premiums for health plans with prescription coverage. It's time for Congress to act and stop the untrammeled, exponential growth in drug costs by ending the War on Drugs and legalizing certain non-debilitating and clinically proven drugs on the free market. After all, a free market will ensure lower prices for all, lower health care costs, and a better quality of life.