(1) Few, if any, people are incarcerated now for using MJ.
While that is true it does not mitigate for the millions of lives which are ruined by the
criminal record attached to anyone arrested for a marijuana offense, whether incarcerated or not. Nor does it reduce the enormous cost of arrest, prosecution, probation, of those millions who have harmed no one and have done nothing more than possess a little bit of a natural plant.
(2) Regardless of the relative harm caused by using MJ (assume it is minimal), its distribution and sale has long been a criminal enterprise, involving a whole cornucopia of felonious activity, piled on top of the simple distribution and sale of a "recreational drug."
When you refer to "relative harm" in this type of discussion it is helpful to be specific so we all know whether to agree or disagree with you. So what "harm" are you talking about? And the "cornucopia of felonious activity" you've mentioned is the result of prohibition, not the possession, use, or sale of marijuana. The simple fact is marijuana prohibition is highly profitable to many corrupt federal, state, and local government officials and it serves the interests of certain high-level sectors of the corporate shadow government.
(3) As documented recently by Dr. Sanjay Gupta in a documentary last year, the Federal classification of marijuana as a "Schedule 1 Substance," was totally without scientific support, and should never have happened in the first place.
Agreed. In fact it would be an interesting and worthwhile journalistic effort to investigate the motivation of those (surviving) individuals responsible for this senseless, Draconian legislation.
(4) For the Federal Government to decriminalize MJ would be tantamount to an admission of error, ruining countless lives and potentially subjecting the government to countless lawsuits.
That might be true for the ground-breakers but the decriminalization ground has been broken long ago. Marijuana was decriminalized in New York City throughout the 1970s and the result was entirely positive. Were it not for Ronald Reagan and his ditzy, quaalude-addicted wife it is likely marijuana would have been legalized by now.
(5)All sane Americans, regardless of their political views, have long ago concluded that MJ should be LEGALIZED, REGULATED, and TAXED like crazy. Tax revenues - found money for the Gub'mint - could be initially dedicated to studying the effects of extensive MJ use and treating those who have been harmed.
You're right -- except for the "TAXED like crazy" part, which would sabotage the otherwise productive effort by promoting underground production and trafficking. A reasonable tax will produce substantial revenue.
(6)The idea the the Law Enforcement community would fight legalization for some self-interested purpose is nothing but neurotic paranoia.
Here you are quite mistaken.
While there is an organization,
L.E.A.P. (Law Enforcement Against Prohibition), consisting of (mainly retired) cops who wish to see marijuana legalized, these comparatively intelligent individuals represent a small percentage of the Nation's federal, state, and local law-enforcers. The fact is the law-enforcement community is one of the most powerful voices raised in opposition to pot legalization:
Police Groups Furiously Protest Eric Holder's Marijuana Policy Announcement
No government worker has ever lost his job due to a lack of "work."
When New York City's financial troubles in the late 1970s required layoffs of "non-essential" City workers to balance the Budget, more than a thousand cops were included in the trimming. I recall the
New York Daily News reporting the sharp reduction in marijuana arrest activity enabling reduction in the police ranks. The layoffs were temporary and those cops were re-hired within a two year period to replace retirees. But the PBA raised a lot of hell about the layoffs, insisting marijuana is a "dangerous drug" which should remain illegal and be vigorously prosecuted.
The simple fact of the matter is because marijuana is by far the most widely used recreational drug it represents about 80% of all drug-law enforcement. So if marijuana is made legal there will be a lot of dead weight in the law-enforcement community at large.
In my opinion the DEA should be disbanded and all of its personnel transferred to the Border Patrol. Similar adjustments could be made at all relevant levels of law enforcement.
