Make Marijuana Matter More // Current

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Athlete Eddie Bravo Talks About Marijuana Legalization

The Fight Network presents a special news update with the founder of 10th Planet Jiu Jitsu, Eddie Bravo.

JackHerer
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Quest For The Truth: Death By Cannabis

"As of today, Marijuana is confirmed as completely legal in only 1 country: India. It's regulated by the government and... more

lifestudentno83
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Franken Foods: GM Tomatoes from Canada (bought from Costco in CA)

Yet another reason to switch to organic foods. Take a look at what I cut in to this last weekend, a tomato with frankenstein bumps... more

Lola444
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Campus Hypocrisy: Marijuana Is Safer, But Students Are Pushed to More Dangerous Booze

The stats for death and injury tied to alcohol on campus are staggering, yet students are more harshly punished for pot -- which... more

JackHerer
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Industrial hemp growth in Oregon faces challenges just like Pine Ridge attempt

Despite recent approval from state lawmakers, industrial hemp growth in Oregon faces a number of hurdles, including a less than... more

JackHerer
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Mellow medicine

Dr. R.D. Chapman, a Grand Junction physician and member of the American Board of Holistic Medicine, was in Durango on Monday to... more

JackHerer
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Save our Forests: Legalize Pot

We are witnessing a widening of the War on Drugs. The enemy -- organized crime, particularly the Mexican Drug Cartel -- is... more

JackHerer
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Walnut Creek Pot Dispensary Owner To Defy City Council

WALNUT CREEK -- The owner of a medical marijuana dispensary has vowed not to shut down despite the fact that Walnut Creek's... more

devincalloway
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Arrested Officers Will Likely Face Immediate Urine Test

Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann spoke out strongly Tuesday after two HPD police officers were arrested in Las Vegas over the weekend... more

JackHerer
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Hemp: The Fabric of Our Lives?

Hemp is one of the fastest growing biomasses in existence, uses less water than cotton, and requires minimal pesticides to thrive.... more

JackHerer
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PTSD Therapy: Are They Fakers and Charlatans?

What works: What doesn't work. (MOLALLA, Ore.) - PTSD Therapy has turned into a huge business with treatment centers all... more

JackHerer
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Cannabis is linked to a 'cancer cure'

By Emily Cook 19/08/2009 HEALTH Cannabis helps combat prostate cancer, scientists revealed yesterday.

JackHerer
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Marijuana Growers Linked to California Wildfires

Another problem that could be solved if marijuana was legalized and the marijuana growing buisness was taken out of the hands of... more

MonsterOfFolk
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Wanna Help Hemp? http://current.com/groups/make-marijuana-matter-more/

Join Here! http://current.com/groups/make-marijuana-matter-more/

hunzedog
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Undercover Baltimore police officer Dante Arthur was doing what he does well, arresting drug dealers, when he approached a group in January. What he didn't know was that one of suspects knew from a previous arrest that Arthur was police. Arthur was shot twice in the face. In the gunfight that ensued, Arthur's partner returned fire and shot one of the suspects, three of whom were later arrested.

In many ways, Dante Arthur was lucky. He lived. Nationwide, a police officer dies on duty nearly every other day. Too often a flag-draped casket is followed by miles of flashing red and blue lights. Even more officers are shot and wounded, too many fighting the war on drugs. The prohibition on drugs leads to unregulated, and often violent, public drug dealing. Perhaps counterintuitively, better police training and bigger guns are not the answer.

When it makes sense to deal drugs in public, a neighborhood becomes home to drug violence. For a low-level drug dealer, working the street means more money and fewer economic risks. If police come, and they will, some young kid will be left holding the bag while the dealer walks around the block. But if the dealer sells inside, one raid, by either police or robbers, can put him out of business for good. Only those virtually immune from arrests (much less imprisonment) -- college students, the wealthy and those who never buy or sell from strangers -- can deal indoors.

Six years ago one of us wrote a column on this page, "Victims of the War on Drugs." It discussed violence, poor community relations, overly aggressive policing and riots. It failed to mention one important harm: the drug war's clear and present danger toward men and women in blue.

Drug users generally aren't violent. Most simply want to be left alone to enjoy their high. It's the corner slinger who terrifies neighbors and invites rivals to attack. Public drug dealing creates an environment where disputes about money or respect are settled with guns.

In high-crime areas, police spend much of their time answering drug-related calls for service, clearing dealers off corners, responding to shootings and homicides, and making lots of drug-related arrests.

One of us (Franklin) was the commanding officer at the police academy when Arthur (as well as Moskos) graduated. We all learned similar lessons. Police officers are taught about the evils of the drug trade and given the knowledge and tools to inflict as much damage as possible upon the people who constitute the drug community. Policymakers tell us to fight this unwinnable war.

Only after years of witnessing the ineffectiveness of drug policies -- and the disproportionate impact the drug war has on young black men -- have we and other police officers begun to question the system.

Cities and states license beer and tobacco sellers to control where, when and to whom drugs are sold. Ending Prohibition saved lives because it took gangsters out of the game. Regulated alcohol doesn't work perfectly, but it works well enough. Prescription drugs are regulated, and while there is a huge problem with abuse, at least a system of distribution involving doctors and pharmacists works without violence and high-volume incarceration. Regulating drugs would work similarly: not a cure-all, but a vast improvement on the status quo.

Legalization would not create a drug free-for-all. In fact, regulation reins in the mess we already have. If prohibition decreased drug use and drug arrests acted as a deterrent, America would not lead the world in illegal drug use and incarceration for drug crimes.

Drug manufacturing and distribution is too dangerous to remain in the hands of unregulated criminals.
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Image source: http://ulsu.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/war-on-drugs22.jpgUndercover Baltimore police officer Dante Arthur was doing what he does well, arresting drug dealers, when he approached a group... more