Marijuana Laws
Drug use and abuse is by no means a new phenomenon, but in the UnitedStates the problems associated with drugs has recently received muchattention in the media, in politics, and in the scientific communities. Inparticular, drug use among teenagers has been the focus of many studies.Eric Sterling notes that "illegal drugs such as heroin and marijuana weremore easily available to high school seniors in 1998 than at any time inhistory," suggesting that drug control measures issued by the US governmentare failing miserably. Marijuana has received the strictest criticism ofall the drugs in the illegal pharmacopeias, ostensibly because it is themost popular illicit substance. An estimated 76% of Americans aged twelveand over who use illicit drugs use marijuana; almost half of these peopledon't imbibe any other drug like cocaine or heroin (NIDA). The news ispeppered with drug-related death stories, most of which ironically do notinvolve marijuana use but "harder" drugs like cocaine, crack, heroin,amphetamines, and "designer" or "club" drugs like ecstasy and crystalmethamphetamine (crystal meth for short). On the contrary, marijuana has noknown overdose level. Still, the War on Drugs, which began decades be
Drug use among teenagers is animportant issue that should be dealt with openly by teachers and parents,not by law enforcement officials. Schlosser notes that there are "far more people infederal prison for marijuana crimes than for violent crimes" like rape ormanslaughter. A mandatory minimum has taken precedence over jury orjudge sentencing based on a thorough case study, with the outrageousconsequence of doling out lifelong prison terms for marijuana offenders whohave absolutely no violent criminal record. The informant process ensures that the bigwigs actuallyreceive more lenient sentences than the minor players, who have lessinformation to offer prosecutors in exchange for a reduction of sentence. Millions of dollarsare also offered to paid informants, usually ringleaders in drugtrafficking. Financially, the War on Drugs is taking its toll on American society. Propaganda is at the heart of the War on Drugs campaign, much as it isat the heart of any war. Laws do little to deter teenagers from experimentingwith drugs. A rise inoverdoses due to hard drugs led to a natural outcry and legal responses. If drugs were decriminalized, they wouldbe de-stigmatized. The realdrug problem in the United States, therefore, is not the widespread use ofmarijuana, although marijuana use does incur many detrimental psychologicaland physical side effects. Rather, the drug epidemic in America isbolstered and propagated by a tyrannical and ignorant approach to drugcontrol. President Clinton continued the campaign andmade it clear that the crusade was far from over, in spite of all theevidence that the war was a lost cause. If drugs were de-stigmatized, drug addicts could seekhelp through safe channels. The War on Drugs has produced athriving black market economy.
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