In reading news articles concerning the fight against marijuana Prohibition, it is striking how often law enforcement officials speak out in favor of Prohibition.
There are many pragmatic reasons for law enforcement to favor Prohibition, such as the lucrative seizures of property that occur under current laws. Any random search, whether justified or not, gains a small measure of validation, if not legitimization, by the discovery of a trace amount of marijuana. On paper, there is an appearance of being "tough on crime" due to a high amount of marijuana-related arrests, which are easier than arresting suspects for violent crimes. Thus, incompetent police are protected by marijuana laws, as they can manufacture artificially high statistics by persecuting harmless marijuana users, whose only "crime" is the possession of a plant that in earlier times was grown and used by George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Abraham Lincoln.
Ethical law enforcement officials require moral justification for Prohibition, rather than base pragmatic motives. For this group, there are memories of The Excuse, recited by many apprehended criminals, both in court and while in custody. "I did this or that because I was high at the time." A substance is implicated, be it booze, pot, or some other drug. Why should a criminal accept personal responsibility? Blame the drug instead. If the drug is at fault, then the individual is free of sin. Due to its widespread availability, pot is likely to be blamed at least some of the time. There is also guilt by association. The fact that some criminals are addicts who abuse a wide range of substances, cannabis being just one item on a lengthy menu, reinforces the notion that marijuana is tied to criminality. While Prohibition endures, an association exists between criminality and marijuana by necessity. Association does not prove causation, but this is not always clear to those who examine an issue from afar, without knowing many of the facts.
Does pot lead to crime? No, it does not. But how is a policeman to know that? Without accurate information, it is difficult to determine what is true and what is false. Perhaps the federal government should initiate a bold experiment and begin listening to the scientists that have evaluated over several decades the effects of cannabis on the human body. The science is crystal clear in regard to marijuana. It is less harmful than alcohol by any measure one would care to apply. It is non-toxic, non-addictive, and has medicinal qualities for many users. It is also an emphatically American product, used by American patriots since the founding of our Republic.
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