The drug war is America's longest war, in 1972 Richard Nixon oblivious to the thousands of casualties in Vietnam, declared drug abuse public enemy number one. We have tried the drug war for 40 years and it has failed. It's time for America to stop declaring war on its citizens who use marijuana. Our jails, prisons, halfway houses, probation system are full of non-violent marijuana users. We can't afford to waste our law enforcement resources on marijuana.
Marijuana laws are applied unfairly, Blacks, Latinos and Native Americans are routinely handed jail time for possession while whites often escape with a fine or probation.
Instead of wasting our limited resources criminalizing marijuana we should be taxing and regulating its use.
From I-502 signature petitions
"This measure would remove state-law prohibitions against producing,
processing, and selling marijuana, subject to licensing and regulation
by the liquor control board; allow limited possession of marijuana by
persons aged twenty-one and over; and impose 25% excise taxes on
wholesale and retail sales of marijuana, earmarking revenue for purposes
that include substance-abuse prevention, research, education, and
healthcare. Laws prohibiting driving under the influence would be
amended to include maximum thresholds for THC blood concentration.
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