The Hill Blog – Congress Must Reject Marijuana Decriminalization Bill
Tuesday, August 12th, 2008 at 9:42 am | By: Radical Russ
Allen St. Pierre’s post in the influentual Capitol Hill blog, The Hill (reported earlier here) has been a smashing success on that website. To date, it has generated 98 comments, almost all positive, which the editor tells us is a record response for a post in that blog.
It has brought the drug warriors out, too. Reluctantly, I suppose, since they are generally told not to engage in drug war debates (because it’s hard to win an argument against facts, logic, and reason with only scaremongering and lies). Here it is, with the comment I have posted in response interspersed within the text:
The Hill Blog» Blog Archive » Congress Must Reject Marijuana Decriminalization Bill
Congressman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) recently introduced H.R. 5843, “The Act to Remove Most Federal Penalties for Possession of Marijuana For Personal Use” in Congress. Should this bill come to the floor for a vote, Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA) urges Congress to vote no. Legislation such as this is not the solution to reducing drug abuse or its concomitant crime and ignores the fact that responsible drug policy should be driven by research based prevention, treatment, and recovery. Not only would H.R. 5843 remove all criminal penalties for anyone, regardless of age, who possesses up to 100 grams of marijuana, but it also removes any criminal penalties associated with the “not-for-profit transfer” of up to one ounce of marijuana and only allows a civil penalty of no more than $100 to be imposed for the public use of marijuana. This legislation severely undermines the prevention efforts of the many community anti-drug coalitions throughout the country and their message that marijuana is not a benign drug.
Yes, decriminalization would severely undermine the efforts to paint marijuana as a dangerous drug… by removing the prohibition-related dangers from marijuana.
Proponents of decriminalization and legalization purport that marijuana is a harmless, non-addictive drug. They also imply that marijuana use begins in adulthood rather than in adolescence. These arguments ignore the facts that marijuana has been classified by the Drug Enforcement Administration as an addictive, Schedule I drug; is the most widely abused illicit drug in the nation among both youth and adults; and that treatment rates for marijuana addiction have skyrocketed in recent years. In fact, results from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA) most recent National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) revealed that the mean age at first use for marijuana initiates is 17.4, and 63.3% of all marijuana initiates between 2002 and 2006 began prior to age 18. Also, according to the 2007 Monitoring the Future results, 41.8% of high school seniors have tried marijuana, with 18.8% of them reporting that they have used marijuana in the last 30 days. It is important to note that while these trends are disturbing, this national data set masks the fact that many communities throughout the country are seeing a much, much lower age of initiation for marijuana use – often times as young as 12 and 13. Further, the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University found that rates of clinical diagnoses of marijuana abuse and/or dependence for minors has increased by a staggering 492.1 percent between 1992 (when marijuana use was at its lowest point) and 2006. Concurrently, there was a 53.7 percent decrease in rates of clinical diagnoses for all other substances combined, including alcohol, illicit, controlled prescription and over-the-counter drugs and inhalants.
Treatment rates have skyrocketed because the number of “drug courts” that sentence cannabis offenders to treatment have skyrocketed. 1/3rd of the people admitted to marijuana treatment haven’t even used marijuana in over thirty days (how’s that for addictive?) Almost 60% of the people in treatment are there from criminal justice referrals; only 15% seek treatment for marijuana on their own (compared to 21% for meth and 28% for alcoohol).
Furthermore, while 41.8% of American teens have tried pot, only 19.8% of Dutch teens have, where it is tolerated and sold in coffee shops to eager tourists and locals — talk about your “wrong message”; why are half the percentage of Dutch kids using pot compared to the American kids who are getting the “right message”?
Using marijuana at a young age can have deleterious effects on youth. In fact, according to Nora Volkow, Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), drug addiction is a pediatric/adolescent onset disease and prevention of first use is critical. In other words, the younger the age a person first uses drugs, the higher their chance of adult drug dependency and addiction. The 2002 NSDUH substantiated this fact as it reported that youth who first smoke marijuana under the age of 14 are more than five times as likely to abuse drugs as adults.
Yes, marijuana use by young teens is bad. That’s why I’d prefer they’d be ID’ed at a liquor store to get pot. Weed dealers don’t ask for kids’ ID. Cigarette smoking is bad for kids, too, and we got those rates to decline not by making smokes illegal, but through advertising bans, public health education, anti-smoking campaigns, and social pressure.
Marijuana use among youth also contributes to poor performance in school as indicated by the 2002 NSDUH which reported youth with an average grade of D or below were more than four times as likely to have used marijuana in the past year than youth with an average grade of A. Additionally, according to the NIDA study entitled “Marijuana Abuse: Age of Initiation, Pleasure of Response Foreshadow Young Adult Outcomes,” youth who initiate marijuana use by age 13 usually do not go to college, while those who have abstained from marijuana use, on average, complete almost three years of college. Even if they decrease their usage later in life, those who begin using marijuana by age 13 are more likely to report lower income and lower level of schooling by age 29.
Lots of marijuana using kids can’t go to college because the government takes away their student loans and grants if they are busted for marijuana. And, as usual, CADCA plays the correlation/causation fallacy. Bad grades aren’t caused by weed. Bad grades and weed smoking are caused by many factors, like income, parental involvement, schools, teachers, illnesses, learning disablilities, etc. (Carl Sagan smoked weed; I think his grades were OK.)
A clear link between violence and marijuana use among adolescents also has been established, and exists not only for the perpetrators of violence, but also for those who are victims of violence. For example, in its 2006 National Summary of its Questionnaire Report for Grades 6-12, Pride Surveys reported that of those students who reported carrying a gun to school, 63.9% reported also using marijuana; of those students who reported hurting others with a weapon at school, 68.4% had used marijuana; and of those students who reported being hurt by a weapon at school, 60.3% reported using marijuana.
Hmm, do you suppose that when you’re carrying a contraband plant worth more per ounce than palladium, you might face the possibility of robbery and violence, and you might protect yourself with a gun? Have you ever felt the need to carry a gun while bringing home a 12-pack from the grocery store? No, because it is legal.
Research also illustrates that the decline in the use of any illegal drug is directly related to its perception of harm or risk by the user. Decriminalizing marijuana sends the wrong message to America’s youth, and will de-stigmatize a drug that clearly has the potential to be both dangerous and addictive. While it is true that alcohol and tobacco addiction rates are higher than that of marijuana, this is the case in large part because they are legal substances and the stigma associated with them has been removed. Doing the same for marijuana will only ensure that addiction rates continue to rise.
While the twelve states that decriminalized marijuana, starting with Oregon in 1973, saw a sleight rise in the rates of teen drug use, the rates rose higher in the states that didn’t decriminalize. Numerous studies have concluded that decriminalization does not lead to an overall rise in use (other factors led to the ’70s rise, like the fact that it was the ’70s and marijuana use went up everywhere). Furthermore, addiction and hospitalization due to alcohol declined following the repeal of Prohibition.
This is evidenced by the fact that those states which have implemented “medical” marijuana ballot initiatives have some of the highest addiction rates in the country. In those states where marijuana has been equated with medicine, the perception of harm relating to that drug has been drastically reduced and social norms to reinforce “no use” messages, have been undermined. In fact, according to the State Estimates of Substance Use from the 2004–2005 National Surveys on Drug Use and Health, released by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration in February of 2005, most of the states in which marijuana ballot initiatives have been passed were clustered at, or near the bottom of the list, in terms of the perception of great risk associated with smoking marijuana once a month.
In the twelve medical marijuana states, teen use of marijuana has declined since the passages of those laws. Do teens see “medical marijuana” as less harmful than “demon reefers”? Sure, and they should. When we tell kids Schedule I marijuana, heroin, ecstasy, peyote, mushrooms, quaaludes, GHB, LSD, and PCP are all equally harmful, and kid sees friend who smokes weed not turn into a heroin-like junkie, it undermines the perception of danger of the drugs that are really dangerous.
Responsible drug policy must focus on effective research based efforts to both prevent and treat drug use. If passed, H.R. 5843 would normalize the use of a Schedule I addictive drug by removing all criminal penalties associated with possession of up to 100 grams and would reduce the perception of harm associated with marijuana use thereby increasing the number of new initiates and enabling existing addictive behaviors to continue. This is not the message we should send to America’s youth. Congress should vote no on “The Act to Remove Most Federal Penalties for Possession of Marijuana For Personal Use.”
I completely agree with the statement: “Responsible drug policy must focus on effective research based efforts to both prevent and treat drug use.” Unfortunately, the War on Marijuana ignores all of the research, from the 1894 India Hemp Drugs Report to the 1942 LaGuardia Commission report, to Nixon’s 1971 Shaffer Commission report, to the 1999 Institutes of Medicine report, and so many reports of the Canadian, British, and Australian governments that have recommended decriminalization, repudiated the so-called “gateway” theory, and demonstrated marijuana’s medical efficacy.
I dream of the day we base our marijuana policy on research, instead of the hangover from Harry J. Anslinger’s “reefer madness” of the 1930’s and the ongoing continuing culture war against the 1960’s.
The other comments left on here are right on!!! I graduated with honors in high school and smoked a lot. Mistakes that I’ve made in my life are NOT accredited to pot, but to carelessness and my own lack of ambition (or recklessness/impatience). I’ve got my BA in BIOLOGY (3.6 GPA) while smoking pot on a regular basis and it did not affect my grades. Sometimes I didn’t wanna get up in the morning, but it had nothing to do with my love of learning. Smoking pot doesn’t make you stupid or lazy. That’s an ability that stands by itself . There are kids who don’t partake in drugs and they drop out of school and are lazy. A lot of kids have other problems to deal with like, neglect and abadonment from parents….or no friends…The gov’t and others can’t presume to know or understand where all these problems are created. Drugs do have something to do with it, but only if it becomes a addiction that gets out of hand. I was able to maintain a job and go to school, while getting high with friends…so…I’m on the lower side of the statistics. The GOV’T doesn’t seem to mention that those kids who don’t do well with school are usually minorities, living in the inner-urban cities ghettos, where it’s hard to make it by. These students are limited to proper health care, schooling, and an overall way of life! Of course, it’s easier to get hooked on drugs while in the ghetto because of the circumstances. I fortunate enough to grow up in a decent home not in the ghetto, but still can’t escape the issues with being a black american. Drugs and Racism is something that will never go away, but I find it unfair that the GOV’T blames everything on blacks/spanish minorities. The Gov’t makes it harder for minorities and then turns around and blames the countries problems on “war on drugs and urban city crime)…BULL FUCKIN SHIT….Getting back to the subject matter…If you are going to drop out of school or not do anything with yoru life, it’s because of your own lazy ass problems. It has nothing to do with POT. Pot just adds to an already existing issue that the individual experiences. But are you going to blame MJ on a crackhead whore who can’t raise her own kids? No, didn’t think so…so why continue to say MJ is the reason why kids aren’t doing well in school???Let me shut the fuck up!
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I find it flabbergasting that such blatant propaganda is disseminated throughout the country and by association the rest of the world under the false pretense of a scientific journal. Throughout my late adolescence and into my adulthood I partook (and on many occasions still do) in a myriad of social behaviors while questioning the Government’s absurd practice of encroaching on the personal freedom citizens have to do what they want. Even in the case that it may be unhealthy or potentially harmful it is not the government’s place to tell me what I can and can not do unless of course I am violating someone else’s personal freedoms. If I so well choose I can smoke a carton of cigarettes, drink a case of beer, and consume a bucket of lard for breakfast, regardless of the potential ramifications of doing so Uncle Sam doesn’t have any right to tell me I can’t do so. I chose not to do so partially for the reason that I wouldn’t be able to do so but mainly for the reason that I have the common sense not to do so. The main point being that if I wanted to I could applies in the sense to marijuana as well. Regardless of the bullshit studies not taken in entirety or so forth, the notion that I may kill some brain cells or whatever when I decide to light up after a day of work should be no one’s business other than my own and at most my immediate family.
Moving on, in accordance with the comment above. I first tried marijuana after a school dance in Junior High at the age of 12 or 13 with a couple of other students of the same age. Three or four out of the five of use were honors students. Now I am aware of a substances different reaction within different people so I will only be speaking from the experience I have had as well as that of those immediately around me. In High School marijuana was rampant with many kids experimenting or doing so daily with the expected plethora of results ranging from dead beat students who drop out to high performing ones who also participate in sports and other activities. As the above statement puts it, a whole spectrum of influences determine how a child performs in school from the home to extra curricular activities to the education system as well. I know I went through the International Baccalaureate program at a public high school not necessarily smoking every day but doing do often, I also participated in Varsity sports, Junior ROTC, Student Council, Key Club, etc. I finished HS with scholarships and an honors diploma as well as with the friendships and relationships that accompany a socially healthy individual. Not surprisingly many of my peers also smoked and excelled in many areas including very high level mathematics and sciences. My first two years of college were a party experience like many other people who turned out fine and I can honestly say that my lack of commitment and academic success can be attributed almost entirely to the consumption of alcohol and not deciding to fully apply myself. After realizing I was wasting money I switched Universities and began Architecture school. I went through Architecture school (which is not a joke) partying (but with more regard for what I had to do) and increasing my marijuana consumption. As I came to the end of my academic career I was smoking more than I ever had in my life and also making excellent grades including a couple of straight A semesters. Now I’m not in any way saying that I made the grades I did because I was smoking so much but it sure didn’t keep me from making grades. I am fully aware of how everyone is different and reacts differently but I was able to write papers and execute creativity just fine if not better while high. Mathematics on the other hand I would not want to be baked while doing. It all comes down to knowing who you are, how you handle a substance, and executing within the parameters of logic.
Now that I am a young adult out of college, I still blaze out of control while managing to not only keep but perform well in a professional career but also paying taxes, maintaining healthy relationships with my friends and family, and otherwise being a law abiding citizen. This bill is only logical and I would hope that the powers that be in Washington get past the Aslinger Era prohibitionary tactics and adopt a much more logical and effective drug policy not unlike our European counterparts who have less of a problem while having legal not to mention potent marijuana available at a coffee shop available for those who want to do so.
ok are u fucking serious how stupid are the people who published this.ok now i didnt do that good in school but that was my choice(along with poor teaching and many other factors) but i cant tell u this at least in the school that i went to most of the so called “pot heads” where the honor roll students so how does smokign pot make ur grades drop if someone has poor grades its there own fault NO ONE ELSES the gov needs to stop making excuses for the lazyness of kids these days and start admiting that its not only the students fault but the teachers, and parents fault as well all im saying that if most honor roll students can smoke pot(some even selling it) then how in the hell is marijuana at fault here