It's time to get rid of the wars and the oppression and move our country and our consciousness into the future of peace prosperity and freedom from dogmatic opression.
Thank you to everyone is working so tirelessly on this. Your reward will be in the making of history for a better and more peaceful world :)

Thanks for putting this so logically and understandable. This makes too much sense for our lawmakers not to make a change. I will be so happy when marijuana users are no longer treated like criminals.

I was grateful to be directed to this article by a FaceBook post from Law Enforcement Against Prohibition.
I am also grateful to have lived to see a time when we may have discussions with Law Enforcement Officers (L.E.O.s) about this needless, and useless and harmful law.
After over 70 years of enforcing the laws against marijuana, it must have dawned upon many a L.E.O. that they were for the most part arresting passive people and youngsters for something that has about the equivalent effect of small amounts of beer.
Hopefully many L.E.O.s will have noticed the guns are brought out against them only by those looking for profits on a black market that would be negated if prohibition were lifted.
Hopefully many will have seen the wasted manpower and budgets that go into a yearly 'war' against something that the people, at least many of the people, clearly want to be able to obtain and use.
Hopefully, many a L.E.O. will join L.E.A.P. and speak up and speak out for a saner usage of their time and efforts.

I was a somker for 10 years. And there were times that I saw people in need of help but did not, for fear of law enforcement seeing my eyes being red, smelling like somke, being in "too good of mood". The fealing of fear that being a smoker and being put in jail for that did not sit well with me. I lived my life with out stealing, harming, or defruding anyone why should i then have my libertys sripted from me simply for enjoing one of god gifts to me? I hope we can use common sense and end prohabition once and for all.

For two Decades I worked in locked alcohol/drug detox/rehab.I saw treatemnt denied addicts due to no funding. I never saw a death from marijuana. Marijuana is safer than alcohol. I use neither. My adult daughter was shot in the head and lived, yet police in East St. Louis too busy to investigate, the drug war taking their time. A 15 year old relative shot and killed in Belleville Illinois, arrest made and man being held was recently released from jail on his attempted murder charge after all the cases of a certain policeman were tossed.....point is police should never get shot over drugs it is a public health issue and what we have been doing after 40 years isn't working. Insanity is doing same thing over and over with expectation of a new outcome.

Passage of the CA Proposition 19 will deal a serious blow to the Mexican drug cartels and to the "drug war" in general. It will also restore sanity to the California State budget by collecting sizable Cannabis revenues and eliminating the wasteful spending on the so-called anti-Cannabis "enforcement". It is established by the science of addiction medicine that the so-called "gateway drug" theory, advanced by the opponents of the measure is a complete fantasy, as is the assertion that Cannabis is "physically addictive". Cannabis is NOT physically addictive, as there is no clearly definable and reproducible PHYSICAL withdrawal syndrome, associated with its use, as opposed to truly physically addictive substances such as opiates or alcohol. In fact, the latest addiction medicine research reveals that Cannabis may serve as an "exit" substance with the potential of helping former alcoholics or hard drug users to abstain from alcohol, hard drugs, or even dangerous and physically addictive prescription drugs! It is also being established that Cannabis use may help prevent such serious illnesses as cancer and Alzheimer's disease! Cannabis use also suppresses violent urges and behaviors. Let's not be intimidated by the scare-tactics of the "opponents", but be motivated instead by science, reason and understanding of these issues, and this means voting YES on California Proposition 19 on November 2!

Please everyone listen to these officers. It's not about the right to get high, it's about safety!

As a 13-year police officer, department training officer, SWAT officer, and patrolman, I have been against the "Drug War" my entire career. The senseless drug policies of our legal system have made scores of thousands of criminals out of otherwise law abiding citizens. As a supporter of LEAP and NORML, I believe it is time to end the draconian measures we undertake against those we are sworn to protect.

glad to see you guys, and the national black police association, as well as the naacp and the CA cousil of churches support prop 19. prohibition has not worked, just like it did not with alchohol, yet alcohol is legal and this natural growing plant is not. and in my opionion the effects and damage from alcohol alone is worse than all other illigal drugs combined, let alone marijuana...alone. thank you for your support

FREE MARC EMERY!!!! WE ARE NOT CRIMINALS!! What does "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness" mean to you?? Alcohol should be illegal, marijuana needs to be legalized and all the lies need to be put to rest. This law is UNCONSTITUTIONAL! You can't enforce a law on people that we're not going to follow!!!

Thank you for speaking out. I agree with you.

The Drug War has not met its intended goals - has only exacerbated the problems it needs to solve. For so many excellent reasons, including public safety being one important one in particular, we need to legalize and regulate.

Thank you for your service, Franklin and Stamper.

“The prestige of government has undoubtedly been lowered considerably by the prohibition law. For nothing is more destructive of respect for the government and the law of the land than passing laws which cannot be enforced. It is an open secret that the dangerous increase of crime in the United States is closely connected with this.” –Albert Einstein, In "My First Impression of the U.S.A." (1921)

Although this quote was referring to the prohibition of alcohol, which lasted for only 13 years from 1920-1933, it holds true for Cannabis today. The difference is we have taken 70 years to realize it still doesn't work. And still today, almost half of Americans have blinders on to this reality. It is time to give people back the right to their own bodies. It is time to stop arresting non-violent people for what they choose to put into their body. It is time to end the prohibition of Cannabis.

Good luck to California . . . the rest of the country will be watching.

Very well written article. Very informative and enlightening. Only wish I was a CA citizen so that I too could vote my support. I have too many times seen police resources completely wasted due to this drug war. Why cannot we put our efforts into more of a protecting and serving role rather than that of prohibition?

Thank You for your time.

Excellent article. LEAP deserves commendation for their firm and sensible opposition to the drug war.

Excellent article. Food for thought!

I'm a relic of the 60s, one that started using pot when I found out how much fun it is to play music while stoned. Like others my age I experimented with other things but even alcohol twisted my thinking away from creative working. My greatest "sorrow" in life was not being able to befriend more law enforcement people. In my many arrests for pot I met amazingly warm and loving cops etc that only wanted to make the world around them better for their loved ones ... the same thing I want to do with my music and message of love. I work hard for my money and detest folks that harm others, steal, act irresponsibly in public ... everything law enforcement is for I am for EXCEPT punishing people for possessing a table spice that should grow in the family garden and be cheap enough to eat. I've never been a criminal with criminal intent and at near 60 I don't see changing. Every police officer I ever talked to about it found arresting pot users (dealers are another matter) a peaceful experience with little real resistance or the problems arresting a DUI can bring. I'm glad to have lived long enough that we can even talk about this in public, I never wanted to be an outlaw, just a hippie musician. I do not favor legalizing chemical drugs, after 40 years of use I still can't see marijuana as a drug, it does not change my "self", only makes it more fun to be me. Peace be to y'all, I know your job would be a lot easier if all the laws politicians passed made sense.

As a former LEO, I wholeheartedly support Californias Prop 19. Not only do I support prop 19, but would like to see it on a national level as well. It's about time we take a realistic approach.

Its time to revisit our failing war on drugs . I believe if we end the prohibition of marijuana, we can save endless live, allow officers to work more aggressively toward other street and drug related crimes. Freeing up officers time to investigate is going to help lower crime rates. Not to mention the murder rates that will drop when prohibition is lifted. The prohibition on alcohol should teach us that.

The reason Marijuana is illegal is purely ideological. There is no "harm" to society from us...ing it. There is no justification for it to be criminal. But people who get high, get wise, they have lots of time to think and reflect.

"Time appears of an unmeasurable length. Between two ideas clearly conceived,there are an infinity of others, in-determined and incomplete, of which we have a vague consciousness, but which fill you with wonder at their number and extent. It seems, then, that these ideas are innumerable, and as time is only measured by the remembrance of ideas, it appears prodigiously long.

For example, let us imagines, as in the case of hashish,that in the space of a minute we have fifty different thoughts; and since in general it requires several minutes to have fifty different thoughts, it will appear that several minutes have passed, and it is only by going to the inflexible clock, which marks for us the regular passage of time, that we perceive our error. With hashish, the notion of time is completely overthrown, the moments are years and the minutes are centuries; but I feel the insufficiency of language to express this illusion; and I believe, that one can only understand this by feeling it himself."

Charles Richer (1877)

People who get drunk, get stupid. They can be manipulated, they murder, they commit assault on wives and husbands and friends, they drive and kill, they commit adultery and act irresponsibly. And although alcohol is a toxin that kills over 100, 000 Americans a year, it is legal. Lots of "harm" to society here.

Why are you censoring posts while asking for our input?

I find Mr. Franklin and Mr. Stamper much more credible than the former drug czars.

I hope people will take the time to investigate further and read or listen to the arguments and personal accounts presented by L.E.A.P. members.

I think it's also worthwhile to investigate the history of our drug laws and to learn that, in fact, there was never a credible reason for the prohibition of marijuana in the first place. For example, one reason was that Harry Anslinger didn't like jazz, and jazz musicians were known to be marijuana users. Really.

This is exactly the truth, the best way to end the pain and suffering of many is to legalize marijuana

I acknowledge the harms of smoking marijuana. All the more reason to regulate it. Back during alcohol

prohibition if it cost the same to move a barrel of beer as it did a barrel of gin, and gin fetched 20 times

as much money, which do you think they tried to sell the most of? It's the same with marijuana currently.

When we regulate it, people will be able to choose the potency they like. I personally don't like the really

high test stuff, it's too strong. Thankfully though, people with higher potency marijuana can just smoke

less to reach their preferred level of relaxation. Think about the difference of how much you drink when

you're drinking beer vs. wine vs. hard liquor. It's not that tough to figure out how much is too much.

Here's something to think about. I can goto the store and for $15 dollars get myself a DEADLY dose of Vodka,

Rum, Gin, Whiskey, Shnapps, or Liquor. Not only will it probably kill me if I drink the whole thing, I will

be intoxicated off my rocker and liable to hurt the people around me. It's actually almost a surety that I

will hurt myself or someone or something. If people are responsible enough to consume THAT poison, surely

we're responsible enough to consume cannabis.

As for driving while high, yes, very stupid idea. We already have laws against it, so using that as a reason

to not legalize is wrong. People goto jail for driving high or drunk now, people will goto jail while

driving high or drunk when it's regulated. I would also have you look up some studies done in other

countries(they won't allow them in the US, I wonder why?) that show that a person who is high on marijuana

functions cognitively and reflexively at the same level as someone who has a .05% blood alcohol level,

which, might I remind you, is LEGAL in most if not all states. Add to this the fact that people who are

stoned are far more aware of their intoxication than a drunk, and slow down accordingly. Stoners drive SLOW.

Will cartels move onto something else, yes they will. But it will not be nearly as profitable and will

seriously dent their ability to pay of public officials and buy guns and hired hands. There will always be

bad people in the world who want to racketeer and bribe and coerce and extort. If we spend less time on

chasing responsible cannabis users though, we will have MORE TIME TO GO AFTER THE REAL BAD GUYS who

victimize other people(also known as "a crime", or "criminals").

As for people saying marijuana users are responsible for violent drug cartel distribution, that's like

saying that people who want to travel to see other places are the cause of all automobile accident

fatalities because they have to drive cars to get there. The demand is not their fault. It's human nature to

want to escape reality and attain some sort of inner peace. Just because we don't do it with religion, some

self-help mantra, cheeseburgers, alcohol, or thrills, doesn't mean we are criminals and deserve to be locked

up and treated with disdain. I'm so glad that our Bill of Rights guarantees me the right to pursue happiness

in my own way...so long as it doesn't infringe upon the rights of others to do the same. Stop infringing on

my rights.

One more thing, the rate at which users become dependent on marijuana is (I forget the exact numbers) less

than half of alcohol users. Marijuana is not for everyone. Alcohol and tobacco are not for everyone. When I

drink alcohol, I become depressed and cynical. So I don't drink it. Simple as that.

I'm happy we addiction counselors to work with people who have a problem with marijuana dependence. It can

hurt some people in the long run. When we stop spending money locking people up for responsible use and

sales, we will be able to afford more people like that.

As for lung ailments, all studies show NO increased risk of lung or throat and mouth cancers. When people

smoke tobacco, however, they have a 4,000% increased risk for lung cancer. Startlingly, they found that

people who smoked tobacco, but also smoked marijuana, brought that increased risk right back down to ZERO.

It even had a (although statistically insignificant) slight insulative effect. This is due to marijuana's

remarkable anti-cancer properties that are only beginning to be discovered. That's why we reccomend it to

cancer patients. It doesn't cause cancer. I will say that inhaling burning plant matter into your own lungs

can cause respiratory problems, of course.

One more thing, how is my smoking pot a bad habit? It has no negative effects on me at all. It saved my

life, quite literally. If I told you Effexor, Zoloft, or Paxil saved my life you would believe me, right? So

why don't you call everyone who takes an anti-depressant a "Person with a BAD HABIT"? Well believe me when I

say, this PLANT SAVED MY LIFE. It didn't take billions of dollars of research and thousands of chemical

steps to make it. I pull it out of the ground and stick it in my pipe.

Put that in your pipe and smoke it.
Thank you for reading, officers.

I was referred to this article as a follower of LEAP. I appreciate the frankness and clearheadedness of the remarks. I'm not a cop. I appreciate cops, I depend on cops, and I hate seeing their service wasted on such a non-public safety issue. When the topic comes up, I try to present my thought experiments, as follows. Scene 1: in a public place, 2 stoners get into an argument, start fighting, guns are drawn, shots fired; yeah, right, but how often does it happen with alcohol involved? #2: stoned husband gets violent with wife, beats her; I don't think so, but again, add alcohol....#3 stoned driver makes bad judgment, causes collision, innocent people injured or dead; not likely either. We all know why: marijuana doesn't make people angry and violent; in fact, just the opposite--they chill out and tend to laugh a little much. And they don't run out and start driving recklessly; they might drive too slow, but "hey--why go anywhere, dude? Let's eat and watch that dvd". The vast majority of users are not addicts and are productive members of society. Addicts will be addicts regardless of what's available. This country would be more peaceful, I guarantee. We all deserve that; our peace officers especially.

I read about study performed in a country that had recently legalized drugs that stated that the number of drug users between the age of 12-14 dropped by 18% .
Taking money out of the black market, gaining taxable revenues on a $123 billion industry, ( last years figures for the black market pot industry in the united states)and lower child drug consumption... whats the hold up here? We have all the facts to show it's what should be done.

WELL DONE BROTHERS!

More and more as the truth starts to come out, our Brothers and Sister in uniform and those of past service are standing up! Those at www.leap.cc have broken the forced silence thereby starting this country on a NEW path. One that will help our citizens and those of the world!

If you can honestly answer the question below, there is no way you can support this known failure called the war on drugs.

"IF " we have been on the right path for the last 40 years, while throwing a " TRILLION" tax dollars at this problem, while locking up more people than any other country. Would not common sense and logic dictate the need for more resources, manpower, funding as well as the harm being done by " BOTH SIDES " should all be going down, " NOT " up year after year!

There Has To Be A Better Way!

As a psychotherapist working with patients at a med. marijuana club for 7 years, i know many who would have committed homocide or suicide if it weren't for their medicine easing them thru their chronic stress and pain. Particularly, veterans and others with post traumatic stress.
Please, if you are a Christian or have any compassion for the suffering, support legalization for marijuana. Thank you.

Passage of the CA Proposition 19 will deal a serious blow to the Mexican drug cartels and to the "drug war" in general. It will also restore sanity to the California State budget by collecting sizable Cannabis revenues and eliminating the wasteful spending on the so-called anti-Cannabis "enforcement". It is established by the science of addiction medicine that the so-called "gateway drug" theory, advanced by the opponents of the measure is a complete fantasy, as is the assertion that Cannabis is "physically addictive". Cannabis is NOT physically addictive, as there is no clearly definable and reproducible PHYSICAL withdrawal syndrome, associated with its use, as opposed to truly physically addictive substances such as opiates or alcohol. In fact, the latest addiction medicine research reveals that Cannabis may serve as an "exit" substance with the potential of helping former alcoholics or hard drug users to abstain from alcohol, hard drugs, or even dangerous and physically addictive prescription drugs! It is also being established that Cannabis use may help prevent such serious illnesses as cancer and Alzheimer's disease! Cannabis use also suppresses violent urges and behaviors. Let's not be intimidated by the scare-tactics of the "opponents", but be motivated instead by science, reason and understanding of these issues, and this means voting YES on California Proposition 19 on November 2!

I believe reddit has discovered a couple of cops here with brains.

The unraveling of the underground economy and its brutal widespread violence is the key reason for bringing cannibis into the legally available, taxed and regulated market. There is no rational reason for this plant, with all of its variety of benefits to be kept marginalized. If citizens can be reasonable and logical about the laws we enact, enforcement officers can reasonably perform their duties. We will all be safer, eventually, as a result.

Amazing article!

65 to 70% of cartel's profits are from marijuana?

How can any responsible government condone this - along with all of the tens of thousands of people who are losing their lives in this so-called "war on drugs"?

Enough is Enough. Legalize marijuana on a US federal level - tax and regulate for adult consumption - and put all of the cartels out of business.

I find it interesting that policemen are arguing against marijuana prohibition. It would be great to read an article by a policeman with the opposite viewpoint on Proposition 19. This article does do a good job explaining how the concerned parents out there don't need to worry too much, since their kids might actually have a harder time getting their hands on marijuana if it were legalized. I didn't expect to hear that, but the argument seems pretty solid.

“Liberty for all”, the war on drugs as lead to the demise of the United States and entire world, it’s completely unconstitutional, how half of the country can agree with it is beyond me, didn’t they study American history and learn how thi...s country was built on the idea of liberty for all, and that all our laws are supposed to protect Individual civil liberties, that’s what we supposedly settled with the civil war, that no state would have any laws that violated personal civil liberties, and now we have a government that is waging war against civil liberties and half the people in the country are so stupid they think the government is protecting them and without the “war on drugs” it would be total anarchy, when anarchy is what the ”war on drugs” causes, they use fear to scare people into handing over their civil rights, and giving them complete and total power to go into anyone’s home, search and take anything they want, to spy on us, to waste billions of tax dollars, to fund this ridicules war against civil rights. Using drugs is moral choice and nowhere in the constitution does it say that the government can tell someone what kind of morals they must live by unless that individual is violating someone else’s civil liberties, that’s why we use the word liberty over the word freedom because if we were a totally a free country then someone can hit you in the head with a shovel and he’d be free to do it, we are a country of protecting each individuals liberties, so your free as long as you don’t infringe on someone civil liberties! Very easy to understand; right!... But then with the ”war on drugs” whose civil liberties are being attacked? The perpetrator?, so the perpetrator is the victim? It’s like someone hit’s their self in the head with a shovel and instead of helping them you put them in prison for felony assault charges, then you label them and take away some of their rights making them second class citizens, because what most people don’t realize, a conviction of a drug related crime is a life sentence whether you go to jail or not, you are now a second class citizen, that no longer has the same chances in life as an American citizen with no prior drug conviction, like the right to bare-arms, to work in the medical field, own a car lot, get a liquor license, and countless other jobs, and the jobs that do higher you, will use it against you, so that you accept lower pay….and yet, we’ve had several Presidents now that have used drugs and quit on their own without being locked up and forced into sobriety , they grew up!,, most drug use is just our youth trying to figure out life and experience new things, most of them move on and even grow from their experiences, but then some get caught and labeled and never get to move past mistakes of youth,,, why would half the country want this??? Its ruining families splitting them up at the seams, most of the kids who don’t get to see their parents as their growing up, where’s it’s due to drugs; it’s not the use of the drugs, it’s the laws against drugs that locks their parents up!, when there’s no victim to even accuse them of a crime, We’ve been taught since grade school that we live in a free country with liberty for all, Please let’s restore the Constitution and stand up for true “liberty for ALL”!

AMEN!

"Prohibition will work great injury to the cause of temperance. It is a species of intemperance within itself, for it goes beyond the bounds of reason in that it attempts to control a man's appetite by legislation, and makes a crime out of things that are not crimes. A Prohibition law strikes a blow at the very principles upon which our government was founded."

-Abraham Lincoln (1809-65) U.S. President.

Speech, 18 Dec. 1840, to Illinois House of Representatives

I love LEAP, and I will be greatful once the drug war is over, and we can call the police without fear! It will also give them time to solve the huge list of unsolved murders and missing persons and property crimes here on the Big Island of Hawaii.

I have noticed a trend: citizens involved in authority positions regularly support drug policy reform -- only ~after~ they retire. It seems there is a lot of pressure not only to enforce rules, but to appear to embrace them as well. This is a point I made in a research paper I wrote for an English class at college, titled "A Call for a Modern Noble Experiment" and posted on my webpage. I am thankful for the work of those like Neill and Norm, and encourage officers and other authority figures to take a moment to try to go inside themselves and ask the big questions, because honestly, if you end up supporting this same movement in the future after your current career, it's not exactly comforting to encounter the hindsight rule.

It's great to see law enforcement speaking out on the failed war on drugs! I hope to see more officers join arms with Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, push to end the Drug War, and then be able to focus on the REAL criminals in our society.

Couldn't agree more. I am glad to see someone of great importance, speaking out in a truthful and intelligent way to everyone in America. The people need to be shown what is really happening as a result of prohibition. Superb article, I stand by you until the end.

beautifully written! it's time to legalize marijuana use, stop having needless deaths and illegal activity around this product, and tax it. not to mention all the benefits of hemp as a crop... the USA's largest crop for many years before prohibition began. we are in a 'recession' now... how better to turn it around?!

I have designed a system to regulate the commerce of cannabis. Designed from the ground up, with the correct priorities, it produces a system of control that 73 years of prohibition has been unable to accomplish. By establishing cannabis trade zones, you can locate the retail facilities into convenient but discrete locations. This allows for non-users to avoid contact and it also facilitates security.
The artisan model of production and distribution provides for 2.5 million jobs, $100 billion of annual soft taxes, a very good chance at urban revitalization, restrictions on age and a daily purchase limit. Without an increase in the number of abusers. Lets be honest, anyone in America that wants to abuse cannabis already does.

Based on the unalterable proviso that drug use is essentially an unstoppable and ongoing human behavior which has been with us since the dawn of time, any serious reading on the subject of past attempts at any form of drug prohibition would point most normal thinking people in the direction of sensible regulation.

By its very nature, prohibition cannot fail but create a vast increase in criminal activity, and rather than preventing society from descending into anarchy, it actually fosters an anarchic business model - the international Drug Trade. Any decisions concerning quality, quantity, distribution and availability are then left in the hands of unregulated, anonymous and ruthless drug dealers, who are interested only in the huge profits involved. Thus the allure of this reliable and lucrative industry with it's enormous income potential that consistently outweighs the risks associated with the illegal operations that such a trade entails, will remain with us until we are collectively forced to admit the obvious.

There is therefore an irrefutable connection between drug prohibition and the crime, corruption, disease and death it causes. Anybody 'halfway bright', and who's not psychologically challenged, should be capable of understanding that it is not simply the demand for drugs that creates the mayhem, it is our refusal to allow legal businesses to meet that demand. If you are not capable of understanding this connection then maybe you're using something far stronger than the rest of us. So put away your pipe, lock yourself away in a small room with some tinned soup and water, and try to crawl back into reality A.S.A.P.

Because Drug cartels will always have an endless supply of ready cash for wages, bribery and equipment, no amount of tax money, police powers, weaponry, wishful thinking or pseudo-science will make our streets safe again. Only an end to prohibition can do that! How much longer are you willing to foolishly risk your own survival by continuing to ignore the obvious, historically confirmed solution?

If you support the Kool-Aid mass suicide cult of prohibition, and erroneously believe that you can win a war without logic and practical solutions, then prepare yourself for even more death, tortured corpses, corruption, terrorism, sickness, imprisonment, economic tribulation, unemployment and the complete loss of the rule of law.

"A prohibition law strikes a blow at the very principles upon which our government was founded."
Abraham Lincoln

The only thing prohibition successfully does is prohibit regulation & taxation while turning even our schools and prisons into black markets for drugs. Regulation would mean the opposite!

Rusty, if you are interested in a Better Way, please see my site.
bigbrowndogpress.com A Better Way is the title of my book regarding an alternative.
I applaud the officers who wrote this piece and the publication for printing it. An open dialogue of what the priorities are in a post prohibition world should occur before legalization occurs. The prohibitionist side of the argument, their heartfelt concerns, need to be addressed. They have every right to avoid contact. Cannabis users are generally quite docile and dont mind going accross the street to partake. Civility from everybody would make this issue easier to solve. No name calling, just an honest sit down.

I know this isn't for California per se, but relevant all the same. I sent this to the Gov General of Canada yesterday.

Hi there. My name is Kevin Quinlan. I'm a 29 year old father of 1 (nearly 2 with 5 months to go) supporting his family with a good job and all the rest. But I can't fathom the reasoning behind the leadership in Canada, with all it's access to modern reports regarding the health, social, and economic resources of cannabis.

Allow me to put some of these points down in list form (it'll be easier for both of us that way);

- The cost/benefit ratio of the war on drugs here in Canada is heavily skewed. Throwing hundreds of millions of dollars to fight a war that is and seemingly always will be unwinnable doesn't make sense. There is no benefit here other than a huge expenditure and filling bunks in prisons.

- Cannabis is really showing it's worth these days in medicine. Ok, why not legalize so everyone with a chronic pain can, if they so choose, deal with it at home? Also, with humans using cannabis for the last 5000 years (give or take) why can I find no reference to anybody overdosing? Really, I've tried, and I've failed.

- We have legal alcohol, legal tobacco, and thousands of legal over the counter medications, plus who knows how many legal prescriptions that all take thousands of lives every year (probably every month). Cannabis has reportedly 0 deaths so far (directly, at least).

- Alcohol makes people fight. Not everybody, of course, but lots of them (I'm quite a happy little drunk). Never seen potheads fight. Once. Ok, I have, but only when plenty of drink or something else was taken. Never because of the pot.

- The latest poll I can find shows 53% of Canadians want full legalization (Angus Reid 2008, http://frankdiscussion.netfirm...stics.html). I think that's a majoity. It's certainly more Canadians than wanted the Conservatives in power, yet there they are. So why, in a democracy, are the majority not getting what they want. That is the whole foundation of our way of life.

The worst part of this letter is that I know you already know all these points. They aren't secret. They're well known, well argued points that people have been making for decades. So I can't really fathom why people in government oppose. Unless you take money into account, then some sense creeps in. Another list!!

- Hemp can produce anywhere from 3 to 8 dry tons of fiber per acre, which is four times what a forest yields. In most cases, producing hemp products will allow for saner environmental processes. So forestry and textiles is pissed.

- Cannabis is a natural sedative and painkiller. Very bad news for the BigPharma.

- Canada has tried for legalization several times in the last decade. Everytime it was defeated because the US (under that fundamentalist fool) threatened sanctions against us. That probably won't happen now that somebody with a bit of sense is in the White House.

Now, I could go on. This isn't the first of these letters I've written and it won't be the last. I very much believe in this cause. I will not rest until this horrific piece of ignorance is dealt with. The government were not put there to enforce what THEY want, they were put there to DEFEND what we, the people, want. This is your duty as the head of Canada.

If you've made it this far, Thank You. I do appreciate it. I look forward to reading your rebuttal.

Kevin Q

PS - No I am not currently smoking and my urine is cleaner than Brita water.

I'm afraid I must request (I would demand, but you might just say "Take Off you little S***") that action be taken to represent what the people want. You can do it now, and be the hero, or, when California passes Prop 19, you can do it then.

Back in the day, when I was a cannoneer in the Army, the highest praise one artilleryman could give another was "TOT", meaning "time on target" - that is, that the right munitions had been dropped on the right target at the right time.
Norm and Neill, in regard to your piece in CA's Prop. #19, TOT!

I wish, for once, somebody would put these claims into a syllogistic argument. You will find that every claim above does not lead to a valid argument. The logic is flawed and full of fallacies on just about every claim the above authors make.

I also wish, that for once, people would just be honest and admit they want to smoke for recreational purposes. The blatant registration and dispensary violations more that demonstrate the abuse for non-medical uses.

It is very worrisome that such heated passion about legalizing something that would really change lives, on both sides of the issue, is being fueled by a complete lack of legitimate research showing the causations and correlations of legalization for an increased quality of life.

Just because a few cops with a very slanted opinion say something is true, does not make it true any more than a few politicians with a slanted opinion are any more credible.

Right now, there is simply no credible research to justify legalization… let’s do the research and then make a very qualified decision.

There is no rush, really.

Almost all drugs should be legalized and regulated and taxed heavily..... what a terrific source in revenue on top of the other reasons......

Alcohol prohibition caused crime just like drug prohibition causes crime. Don't stop at recreational drugs, though ... all medicinal drugs should be de-controlled. When that happens, watch health care costs drop through the floor.

"Concerned," you've got it backward. There is plenty of legitimate research supporting legalization/decriminalization, going back over a hundred years. On the other hand, I don't know of a single bit of legitimate research that favors what we are currently doing.

For example, see:
1894 -- India --Indian Hemp Drugs Commission Report
1926 -- England -- the Rolleston Report
1929 -- US Military -- Panama Canal Zone Military Investigations
1944 -- New York -- The LaGuardia Committee Report
1961 -- USA -- Drug Addiction: Crime or Disease?
1968 -- England -- The Wootton Report
1970 -- Canada -- The LeDain Report
1972 -- USA -- The Consumers Union Report on Licit and Illicit Drugs
1972 -- USA -- The Shafer Commission Report
1989 -- California -- The Report of the Research Advisory Panel for the state of California
1994 -- New York -- A Wiser Course: Ending Drug Prohibition
1994 -- Australia -- Legislative Options for Cannabis
1996 -- New York -- Report and Recommendations of the Drug Policy Task Force
1996 -- Netherlands -- Drug Control Through Legalization

Athough smokeing pot is not the best thing for a persons body, it's been a terrible injustice over the decades to jail people for thier choice. I believe the statistics speak for themselves where the comparisons in damage to ones self from drinking alcohole and smokeing are concerned. We need to take the power away from the drug cartels and those who benifit from keeping these things illegal here in our country. Rather than these factions growing richer off the backs of the people, I believe that the reources which would be saved and the taxes realized would go a long way to relieve the current economy. If people were educated on the hisory of marijuana, eyes would be opened and a new era would exist. I implore everyone who really wants to know the truth behind the war on marijuana, to search the information which exists on the subject. The internet is a gold mine for those who have a need to know. God Bless.

I would refer you to this... just for starters, to illustrate that there are as many studies and policy changes to refute your listed studies. And again, I am not saying am for prohibition, but there are very feew "valid" studies with which to make a serious policy changes.

http://www.justice.gov/dea/demand/speakout/09so.htm

I am glad you are saying what so many of us active officers cannot. As a 15 year street cop I support you 100%. Alcohol prohibition didn't work, MJ prohibition is an utter failure.

So, if cocaine and other drugs become just as popular amongst users as weed, then the solution is to legalize them too? Just because we can't seem to get ahold of the drug war doesn't mean something should be legalized. Rather than easing penalties for weed use, maybe courts should impose stricter sentences to curb the use and maybe law enforcement should more heavily investigate dealers. Lack of enforcement is no excuse for legalizing a drug.

Do some historical research. I think you'll find that virtually everything the government has ever said about marijuana has been either exaggerated, based on bad science, or pure fantasy made up as the occasion demanded. Harry Anslinger, head of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics until 1961, was notorious for inventing "facts" as he needed them.