Little progress on pot

Colleagues,

Today's letter ran as a rebuttal to last week's 'police-PR-puff-piece'
lauding the record number of pot seized in North (San Louis Obispo) County.
My response turns law enforcement's notion of 'success' (defined by record
seizures) and turns it on its head by redefining it as 'failure.'

Since virtually every paper in CA (as well as elsewhere) will run a similar
PR puff piece at some point during 'harvest season,' there will be ample
opportunities to get this message across, and this LTE can easily be tweaked
and recycled.

Regards,
--
Paul Armentano
Senior Policy Analyst
NORML | NORML Foundation
paul [at] norml.org
925-930-7327 (land)
703-606-7539 (cell)

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http://www.sanluisobispo.com/182/story/132899.html

Posted on Tue, Sep. 04, 2007

Letters to the Editor

Little progress on pot

While it may be true that law enforcement seized a record number of pot
plants growing in North County (³Marijuana busts pass 2006,² Aug. 31), does
anyone really believe that the net outcome of these operations will be a
tangible reduction in the demand or availability of marijuana in the local
area?

It¹s time for a reality check. State and federal law enforcement personnel
arrest about 800,000 Americans annually and spend about $10 billion per year
enforcing marijuana prohibition.

Nevertheless, the U.S. government reports that domestic marijuana production
has increased tenfold in the past 25 years, from 1,000 metric tons (2.2
million pounds) to 10,000 metric tons (22 million pounds). Is this the sign
of a successful public policy?

The continued criminal prohibition of cannabis has had no discernable,
longterm effect on marijuana¹s availability or use, especially among young
people. A wiser and long-overdue national policy would tax and regulate the
use of cannabis in a manner similar to alcohol‹with the drug¹s sale and use
restricted to specific markets and consumers.

While such an alternative may not entirely eliminate the black market demand
for pot, it would certainly be preferable to today¹s blanket ‹ though
thoroughly ineffective, expensive and impotent ‹criminal prohibition.

Paul Armentano Senior policy analyst, National Organization for the
Reform of Marijuana Laws

Washington, D.C.