As a teenager, Barack Obama liked to
get high in the back of a friend's VW bus. His hallmark: a smoking technique he
called Total Absorption. He knows as did George W. Bush and Bill Clinton before him,
what we all know: that pot is essentially harmless. Yet the government continues
to wage a senseless and costly war on marijuana, treating pot as if it were
more dangerous than crack cocaine.
More than 750,000 Americans were
arrested on marijuana charges last year - 87 percent for simple possession. The
costs are staggering - nearly $8 billion a year wasted on police and prisons
alone, with billions more squandered by not taxing pot like tobacco or alcohol.
In Mexico - where nearly two-thirds of the pot smoked in this country originates
– drug violence has claimed nearly 50,000 lives since 2006. Yet all the while,
demand for pot has increased like wildfire: Nearly 30 million Americans enjoyed
pot at least once last year.
Mr. President, this war is a sham, a
folly, a colossal waste of money and human potential. And you can end it with a
few strokes of your pen. Through executive order, you can advance life,
liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and begin to bring another mindless war
to a responsible conclusion. All it requires the same courage you displayed on
gay marriage. Simply say in your heart - what you know to be true.
by Jann S. Wenner, Rolling Stone, 3
January 2013
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