Marijuana Reform Essay, Research Paper

The Marijuana Reform Party believes:

That adults who choose to use marijuana in the privacy of their own homes should not be subject to civil or criminal sanctions.

That it is wrong for children to use marijuana, and that such use is best stopped through honest drug education and by providing children with positive alternatives to drug use.

That the best way to protect the health and well-being of our community and children from marijuana-related harm is to control the growth, distribution, and use of the drug through a rational system of regulation and taxation.

That drug addiction in general should be dealt with through treatment and prevention, rather than police and prisons.

Some facts you may not know about marijuana prohibition:

Marijuana is decriminalized in New York, with simple possession not even being a misdemeanor offense. Until recently, relatively few people where ever arrested for marijuana possession in New York. Since 1990 arrests for marijuana possession increased 476% statewide. In New York City the arrest rate for possession has increased by over 1000%!

More than 35,000 marijuana offenders are in prison or jail nationwide. These marijuana offenders are occupying cells that could be used for violent offenders.

Public opinion polls show that a majority (53% to 34%) Americans view drug abuse as a public health problem best handled by prevention and treatment programs, rather than by police and prisons.

Marijuana prohibition creates a mixed drug market, which puts marijuana consumers in contact with hard-drug dealers. Regulating, taxing, and allowing adults to grow their own marijuana would seperate marijuana from cocaine, heroin, and other hard drugs.

Because marijuana is typically used in private, trampling the Bill of Rights is a routine part of marijuana law enforcement (e.g., drug dogs, urine tests, phone taps, informants, curbside garbage searches, military involvment in the drug war, etc.).