Invariably, if you ask police to talk about marijuana laws, they will start listing reasons that it should be made legal. Even if they don't realize it:
Really, how much clearer could it be? Far and away, the greatest danger associated with marijuana is the black market. If even the police understand this, then who do we still need to explain it to? Changing the way marijuana is sold couldn't be any simpler. In fact, the D.C. Council did exactly that this afternoon with regards to medical marijuana.
If we don't want any more violence in the pot business, we can accomplish that with remarkable ease. Ironically, the only obstacle is the bizarre complaints of police and politicians who insist on blaming marijuana for the violence of prohibition.
Police say pot accounts for so many arrests not only because it is so commonly used but also because it's often easier to detect than crack cocaine or heroin, with a distinctive odor that has a way of wafting out car windows during traffic stops.
"You can drop a rock and run," said D.C. Assistant Police Chief Peter Newsham. "If you drop a Ziploc bag of marijuana, you're going to leave a big patch of green."
D.C. police seized about 840 pounds of pot last year, Newsham said. "People don't feel marijuana is dangerous, but it is, because of the way it is sold," he said. "We frequently recover weapons when serving search warrants associated with the sale of marijuana." [Washington Post]
Really, how much clearer could it be? Far and away, the greatest danger associated with marijuana is the black market. If even the police understand this, then who do we still need to explain it to? Changing the way marijuana is sold couldn't be any simpler. In fact, the D.C. Council did exactly that this afternoon with regards to medical marijuana.
If we don't want any more violence in the pot business, we can accomplish that with remarkable ease. Ironically, the only obstacle is the bizarre complaints of police and politicians who insist on blaming marijuana for the violence of prohibition.
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