MPP UPDATE #10 -

by Rob Kampia

Denver voters may have just sounded the death knell for America's long, sad experiment with the prohibition of marijuana. This endeavor has been an even more spectacular failure than Alcohol Prohibition was during the 1920s, and it's clear that voters are coming to the realization that it is time to end marijuana prohibition, too.

By a margin of 53% to 47%, Denver voters passed a local ballot initiative on November 1 that has eliminated all penalties for the possession of up to an ounce of marijuana under city ordinances. More importantly, it puts the city on record in support of treating private, adult use and possession of marijuana "in the same manner as the private use and possession of alcohol."

According to the FBI, there were over 770,000 marijuana arrests last year—that’s one arrest every 41 seconds. It's the equivalent of arresting every man, woman, and child in the city of Denver plus every man, woman, and child in Rochester, New York. Imagine arresting that many people every year.

The organization behind Denver's initiative, Safer Alternative For Enjoyable Recreation (SAFER), built its campaign around a simple point: marijuana is less dangerous than alcohol, so why do our laws treat marijuana much more harshly?

The very fact that this idea seems novel or surprising to many people indicates the extent of the confusion and disinformation that surrounds marijuana. Among knowledgeable scientists, it's not controversial at all.

In 1998, The Lancet, one of the world's most prestigious medical journals, declared, "On the medical evidence available, moderate indulgence in cannabis [marijuana] has little ill-effect on health." Four years later, the British government's Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs reported, "The high use of cannabis is not associated with major health problems for the individual or society." In recent years, numerous other independent reviews -- including a massive study by the Canadian Senate -- have reached the same conclusion.

While the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) tries to frighten Americans by calling marijuana "addictive," scientists have shown that it's actually far less addictive than many legal drugs. Of all those who try cigarettes, for example, about 32% get hooked -- "dependent," in scientific parlance. Fifteen percent of those who ever take a drink of an alcoholic beverage become addicted. For marijuana, the figure is just nine percent.

Alcohol, meanwhile, has been estimated by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to cause about 100,000 deaths per year, while marijuana use has never been scientifically linked to an increase in mortality. No one has ever died from an overdose of marijuana, which cannot be said about alcohol, aspirin, and hundreds of other legal drugs. Alcohol use is a well-documented cause of aggressive and violent behavior, including domestic violence; marijuana is not.

Heavy alcohol use has been shown to cause serious, and potentially fatal, damage to the liver and brain; indeed, the brains of alcoholics actually shrink. No such effects from marijuana have been proven, despite decades of research. Marijuana is not harmless, but its risks for responsible, adult users are comparatively small.

Despite this, our government made more than three-quarters of a million marijuana arrests last year -- 89% of which were for simple possession, rather than trafficking or manufacture. It has been estimated that, at any given moment, between 32,000 and 40,000 Americans are in prison for marijuana offenses—that’s more than the entire prison populations of any of eight European countries and 32 U.S. states. Hundreds of thousands of Americans cycle in and out of jail for marijuana offenses in any given year.

This must stop. Thankfully, since September 2003, the voters of Denver, Oakland, and Seattle have all voted to cease arresting their own citizens for marijuana possession, and a recent Gallup Poll shows record support for marijuana reform. Fully 36% believe marijuana should be legalized, and an impressive 55% said minor marijuana possession should not be considered a criminal offense.

The sooner we replace the failed policy of marijuana prohibition with a sensible system of taxation and regulation, the better off all Americans will be.

Rob Kampia is executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project in Washington, D.C., www.mpp.org.