On the quiet, the US is legalising marijuana – Times Online.
I just read this article and commented elsewhere that the problem with the American “War on Drugs” was that it was more about controlling people than actually trying to control access. The only accomplishment was waste: billions of dollars and millions of lives. At some point, we must stop and seek out better ways to manage the American craving for marijuana.
I have always been a proponent of licensing pot sales and to use the money to fund diversion and vocational development programs for primary and secondary school kids. Others have suggested that taxes from pot sales alone could offer significant funding for health care. The bottom line is that the continued prohibition of this WEED makes about as much sense as the Prohibition of alcohol – and the result has been about the same.
Moreover, it seems unnecessarily cruel to keep this valuable herb away from people who could really benefit from its use. I know that there are people out there who are dubious about the medicinal qualities of marijuana, but I know from personal experience (my brother and my mother) that chemo patients find measurable and sustained relief from their disease and treatments. Several peer-reviewed medical studies seem to also bear this claim out.
Time for a change, folks. -HP
