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As Democratic State Assemblymember Tom Ammiano's bill to legalize, regulate and tax marijuana makes its way through state committee (it could take a year before politicians vote on it), the debate rolls on about how the vote should go.
"The last thing we need is yet another mind-altering substance to be legalized," said John Lovell, lobbyist for the California Peace Officers' Association, to Reuters. "We have enough problems with alcohol and abuse of pharmaceutical products: do we really need to add yet another mind-altering substance to the array?"
Joel W. Hay, professor of Pharmaceutical Economics at USC, also is not a fan: "Marijuana is a drug that clouds people's judgment. It affects their ability to concentrate and react and it certainly has impacts on third parties... There are probably some responsible people who can handle marijuana but there are lots of people who can't, and it has an enormous negative impact on them, their family and loved ones."
But retired Orange County Superior Court Judge James Gray has a way different take. "We couldn't make this drug any more available if we tried," he said. "Not only do we have those problems, along with glamorizing it by making it illegal, but we also have the crime and corruption that go along with it. Unfortunately, every society in the history of mankind has had some form of mind-altering, sometimes addictive substances to use, to misuse, abuse or get addicted to. Get used to it. They're here to stay. So, let's try to reduce those harms and right now we couldn't do it worse if we tried."
Photo by Neeta Linda via Flickr
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Let's the the marijuana market out of the hands of petty criminals and put in the hands of the REAL criminals: the government.
So, the problem with alcohol is that liquor stores owners aren't at war with each other, and that it's more difficult for kids to get a six-pack than it is to get some weed?
I'd have to say that not all rank and file police officers agree with John Lovell or Joel Hay.
Years ago while running a signature gathering and info table to get Prop 215 on the ballot, a police officer who was working the street fair told me; "I've had to wrestle plenty of people to the ground who are drunk, but never ones who are stoned."
Hon. James Gray has been an advocate for decriminalization for years. You can google several good articles he's written about it.
I THINK THAT WEED SHOULD BE LEGALIZED, BECAUSE THERE ARE MANY GOOD FACTORS TO THIS DRUG SUCH AS IF THE GOVERNMENT TOOK OVER THE SELLING OF THIS PRODUCT IT WILL KEEP THE STREETS CLEAN AND LESS VIOLENCE AND CARTELS AND DRUG DEALERS WILL BE OUT OF BUSINESS AND THEY WILL HAVE TO GET A REAL JOB, ALSO THERE ARE SOME DOWN POINTS TO WEED JUST LIKE BEER AND LIQUOR AND CIGARETTES SUCH AS HEALTH AND UNCONTROLLABLE ACTIONS, BUT STATISTICALLY WEED IS NOT A KILLING FACTOR LIKE CIGARETTES AND ACOHOL IT IS SIMPLY A GOOD HEATH SOLUTION!