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US WA: Editorial: A Simple Answer To Pot Confusion

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URL: http://www.mapinc.or...1/n489/a04.html

Newshawk: Herb

Votes: 1

Pubdate: Tue, 26 Jul 2011

Source: Sammamish Review (WA)

Copyright: {2011} Sammamish Review

Contact:male2('samrev','isspress.com'); samrev@isspress.com

Website: http://sammamishreview.com/

Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/5274

 

 

A SIMPLE ANSWER TO POT CONFUSION

 

There is one sure-fire way to end all the confusion over conflicting marijuana laws. Legalize it.

 

Sammamish just placed a moratorium on collective medical marijuana growing operations because the state and the feds have different ideas about what should be allowed and they don't want to be caught in the middle. It was a prudent response to a confusing situation.

 

Meanwhile King County has decided not to bother with any sort of regulation. So Sammamish residents -- with the proper medical documentation -- can head over to a friend's house in, say, Klahanie and grow all the pot they want.

 

Whether or not they can bring it back into the city becomes a bit of a grey area.

 

All of this is just absurd.

 

In 1992, "inhaling" was an important distinction that caused a ruckus for then-candidate Bill Clinton. In 2008, Barack Obama admitted he inhaled and nobody cared anymore.

 

We've come a long way in popular opinion and its time for the laws to catch up.

 

The arguments for legalizing have all been made ad nauseam, but some are worth repeating. Prohibition doesn't work, nor will it. Marijuana is available to anyone who wants it and prohibition creates a black market. Licensing and regulation could improve safety, free law enforcement for more important tasks and generate tax revenue.

 

Contrary to anti-marijuana propaganda, it's not a gateway drug. Some lives have been ruined by it, yes, but making it illegal didn't stop that from happening. Legalizing it might allow people who need addiction help to seek treatment without fear of prosecution.

 

And for the majority, smoking marijuana is nothing more than a recreational pastime. Today's retirees came of age in the 60s, and if they didn't smoke a joint then, they probably have friends who did. Few are potheads today.

 

The incremental steps toward legalization have created a patchwork of confusing and contradictory laws. Citizens are left in the middle, with their ability to smoke dependant on which side of a municipal boundary they happen to be standing on.

 

Just legalize it already.

MAP posted-by: Richard R Smith Jr.

[ozzrokk]

I agree and at the very least just implement our Medical

Cannabis Law and leave us the flower alone already.........