Marijuana Prohibition Is A Huge Failure

Americans don't seem to learn from experience.   Either that or the lesson learned is quickly forgotten.   This country tried prohibition back in the twenties and thirties (with alcohol).   It was a miserable failure.   All it did was create a lucrative black market for criminal elements and organizations.   But having learned nothing from that abject failure, the country turned around and tried a second prohibition -- this time with drugs.

There was no real reason for the second prohibition, especially for a drug such as marijuana. It had very few, if any, bad effects, and was really much safer than many legal drugs (such as alcohol and tobacco).   To date, this country has spent over a TRILLION DOLLARS on the famous "War on Drugs" -- and accomplished nothing.   Drugs, especially marijuana, are still plentiful -- but huge amounts of money are being wasted on attempts at interdiction and on incarceration of Americans whose only crime was possession of a small amount of a drug disapproved of by those in power.

In just 21 years, the overall budget for the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy grew by over 600% -- from $1.5 billion in 1981 to over $18 billion in 2002 (the last year reliable figures were available).   In addition, between 1990 and 2006, marijuana-related arrests increased by 150%, while marijuana seizures grew by over 400%.   And it has all been for naught (except to criminal some hard-working Americans).

Here is the result of that according to the International Center for Science in Drug Policy (using the U.S. Governments own figures):

* The retail cost of a gram of marijuana decreased from $37 in 1990 to only $15 in 2007.
* Marijuana has remained almost "universally available" to American youth in the last 30 years.
* Marijuana use among 12th-graders has risen from 27% in 1990 to 32% in 2008.
* Marijuana use among 19 to 28 year-olds has risen from 26% in 1990 to 29% in 2008.

As you can easily see, the marijuana prohibition has been a colossal failure.   It is time to stop the prohibition of marijuana and regulate it like we do with alcohol.   California has a proposition on their November ballot to do this.   The chances are good that it will pass.   Maybe then this nation can start down the road to a more sensible and manageable policy toward the possession and use of marijuana.