Rick Steves is the internationally-known travel writer who’s famous for his “Guide to Europe” series.  He is also a longtime advisory board member of NORML.  Following is the letter he has composed to every legislator in his home state of Washington to support marijuana decriminalization:

Dear Legislator,

I’d like to offer my view on SB 5615, which reclassifies possession of marijuana by adults to a civil infraction. I realize that the deadline for SB 5615 to receive a floor vote in the Senate was March 12, but I am looking forward to further consideration of this important bill when it carries over to the 2010 session.

For nearly a decade I’ve been a spokesperson for changing our “war on marijuana” to something more pragmatic, similar to the European model. I speak out publicly on this issue not because I’m “pro-drugs,” but because I believe (like most Europeans do) that the measure of a society’s drug policy should be in harm reduction rather than incarceration.

I want to be clear: smoking marijuana is bad for your health. I am not “pro-marijuana,” nor am I in favor of making it available to minors. And if anyone causes damage or danger while intoxicated on anything, I believe we should throw the book at them. But I do not believe that we should use our criminal justice system to address a public health issue, and as a matter of principle, I believe that the responsible adult recreational use of marijuana is a civil liberty. Apart from all that, it is clear that the existing “war on marijuana” is costing our society more than the ills brought on by marijuana—and there’s no sign that continuing this war will make any difference.

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The Vatican has been accused of putting the lives of thousands at risk by attempting to influence UN drugs policy on the eve of a major international declaration.

The Vatican’s objection to “harm reduction” strategies, such as needle exchange schemes, has ignited a fierce debate between the US and the EU over how drugs should be tackled.

A new UN declaration of intent is due to be signed in Vienna on 11 March. However, there are major disagreements between member countries over whether a commitment to “harm reduction” should be included in the document, which is published every 10 years.

Now the Vatican has issued a statement that claims that using drugs is “anti-life” and “so-called harm reduction leads to liberalisation of the use of drugs”. The Vatican’s last-minute intervention appears to have led to Italy withdrawing from the EU consensus on the issue and thrown the talks over the declaration into confusion.

via Vatican’s stance on UN drugs policy ‘risks lives’ | World news | The Guardian .

There is nothing “so-called” about the harm reduction demonstrated by clean needle exchange programs and they do not lead to more use of drugs.  But at NORML we’re concerned only with marijuana, so let me tackle the Vatican’s “anti-life” statement.

Certainly the Holy See doesn’t mean the use of all drugs is “anti-life”.  Pope Benedict knows there are all manner of drugs that are used to save and prolong life.  The Catholic Church is even accepting of using drugs for fun:

While the Catholic church hasn’t taken a public stance on Viagra, an official at a local diocese told us, “This isn’t in the same category as the Pill; the Pill has to do with human life, but Viagra doesn’t. Viagra could be used within a marriage.”

Sure, that’s true, and there are even some men who truly need Viagra in order to maintain a healthy sex life.  But the non-medical use of Viagra as merely a chemical tool for having more fun cannot be overlooked.  In other words, there are both medical and recreational uses for Viagra, just as there are for coca plants, opium poppies, and cannabis bushes.

With the Holy See condemning needle exchange, I must interpret that as abuse of drugs is “anti-life”.  However, Viagra can kill you and marijuana cannot, so how can the Vatican condemn needle exchange without condemning misuse of Viagra?  Abusing Viagra will end your life, how much more “anti-life” can you get?  Using marijuana recreationally can never kill you, how much more “pro-life” could a drug be?  (And if you have both Viagra and marijuana, you have a really excellent evening!)

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TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Olympic great Michael Phelps has acknowledged ”regrettable” behavior and ”bad judgment” after a photo in a British newspaper showed him smoking marijuana.

In a statement released to The Associated Press, the swimmer who won a record eight gold medals at the Beijing Games conceded the authenticity of the exclusive picture published Sunday by the tabloid News of the World.

Phelps said: ”I engaged in behavior which was regrettable and demonstrated bad judgment. I’m 23 years old and despite the successes I’ve had in the pool, I acted in a youthful and inappropriate way, not in a manner people have come to expect from me. For this, I am sorry. I promise my fans and the public it will not happen again.”

via Phelps Apologizes for Marijuana Use – NYTimes.com.

Youthful and inappropriate.  Childish things, as our president might say.  ”It will not happen again.”  Not to get all Clintonian on you, Mike, but does “it” refer to “smoking marijuana” or does “it” refer to “photos surfacing in newspapers showing you smoking marijuana”?

I’ll never understand the mindset that accepts as rational the idea that these world class athletes – Michael Phelps, Ricky Williams, Ross Rebagliati, those Russian sumo, etc. - can dedicate their entire lives to eating right, working out, honing their bodies and minds to the pinnacle of their sport, but should they wish to relax and unwind, they’re forced to ingest a hard liquid drug that has noticably deleterious effects on health and athletic ability (Max McGee notwithstanding) rather than a mild herb that doesn’t seem to  have affected their abilities whatsoever.

Even more perplexing is the notion that, in the name of “sports medicine”, these athletes are accustomed to taking all manner of narcotic pain killers and other pharmaceutical cocktails that aid performance or mitigate injury, but are addicting (Brett Favre, *cough*,) and wreak havoc on the liver and kidneys, yet if we catch them smoking weed we have to mete out severe punishment (Santonio Holmes, notwithstanding).

As I look at the coverage on Huffington Post (admittedly, a liberal website) almost all comments are “it’s well past time to legalize it” and “so what” and “didn’t hurt Phelps’ performance any”.  Oh, an Obama brother pot bust and an eight-time gold medalist bong photo following ten days of growing drumbeat over President Obama’s non-response to the Tahoe Raid… somebody really did get me a swell birthday present!

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