MARIJUANA IS NOT AN ISSUE

Our war on drugs is one of the leading contributors. Those who insist that the United States is a "Christian nation" would be hard-pressed to find evidence for it in our nation's drug policy, which condemns millions of our neighbors to be warehoused behind bars for nonviolent offenses. The Economist article brings to light a systemic denial of Christian love and compassion, particularly toward those struggling with addiction.

But on the same day the Economist published "Rough Justice," something else happened that few would immediately associate with the biblical command to love our neighbor: the California Affiliates of the ACLU endorsed Proposition 19, the ballot initiative to legalize recreational use of marijuana. Christian communities looking for a smarter, more compassionate, and more successful way forward in fighting drug addiction would do well to consider the merits of marijuana decriminalization.

The ACLU has long recognized that prosecution of marijuana crimes is among the most successful vehicles of mass incarceration that unfairly targets minorities. According to a statement from the ACLU of Southern California, California made 60,000 marijuana arrests in 2008, the majority of them young men of color. In Los Angeles County the marijuana possession arrest rate of African Americans is more than 300 percent higher than the same arrest rate of whites, although blacks made up less than 10 percent of the county's population, according to a new report from the Drug Policy Alliance. The same report also reveals that more white youth use marijuana than black youth, despite the dramatically skewed arrest rates.

Communities of faith have historically offered a different response to drugs, leading the charge when it comes to meaningful treatment for addiction. At the core of the Christian tradition is the belief that redemption is available to all, which is precisely why the two greatest commandments are so alike: loving God with all your heart is like loving your neighbor as yourself because God's love is equally available to you and your neighbor, no matter who you are or what you have done. Many Christian communities bring this conviction to action when it comes to drug addiction, opening their doors to clinics and 12-step programs and providing direct services like addiction treatment and counseling -- programs rooted in the value of compassion.

California's marijuana policy is no different. Even a misdemeanor marijuana possession arrest can prevent someone from obtaining a job, a home, and even educational loans. By making employment and education even more difficult, this punitive approach to drug abuse all but eliminates the basic tools for pulling oneself out of the pit of addiction and into a sustainable healthy lifestyle. Often this leads to further drug use, crime, and ultimately incarceration.

A profoundly different response to sin is modeled by the Incarnation. In becoming human, Christ entered a broken world and took the burden of sin upon himself. He embraced sinners with open arms, using fellowship and love to offer a way out of sin and a path toward healing. Ultimately, the purpose of the Incarnation is to offer redemption and salvation to any and all sinners who accept the offer. This is the lynchpin that holds the two greatest commandments together. If we truly love God with all our hearts, minds, and souls, we inevitably turn to our neighbors and reflect God's Incarnational acceptance by loving them as we love ourselves.

Contrary to the beliefs of those who advocate the legalization of marijuana, the current balanced, restrictive, and bipartisan drug policies of the United States are working reasonably well and they have contributed to reductions in the rate of marijuana use in our nation.

The rate of current, past 30-day use of marijuana by Americans aged 12 and older in 1979 was 13.2 percent. In 2008 that figure stood at 6.1 percent. This 54-percent reduction in marijuana use over that 29-year period is a major public health triumph, not a failure.

Marijuana is the most commonly abused illegal drug in the U.S. and around the world. Those who support its legalization, for medical or for general use, fail to recognize that the greatest costs of marijuana are not related to its prohibition; they are the costs resulting from marijuana use itself.

There is a common misconception that the principle costs of marijuana use are those related to the criminal justice system. This is a false premise. Caulkins & Sevigny (2005) found that the percentage of people in prison for marijuana use is less than one half of one percent (0.1-0.2 percent).

An encounter with the criminal justice system through apprehension for a drug-related crime frequently can benefit the offender because the criminal justice system is often a path to treatment.

Is possession of marijuana a criminal offense? 

Yes. Possession of marijuana is a criminal offense under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.     You don’t have to own the marijuana – you just have to have, or possess, it. There are medical exceptions. If you are charged with possession of marijuana, you should speak to a lawyer.

What must the prosecutor prove to convict you? What can you do?

In court, the prosecutor, also called the crown counsel, must prove – beyond a reasonable doubt – that you:

• had control of the marijuana – for example, the police found it on you or in an area you controlled, such as a car, suitcase, or bedroom, and
• knew the marijuana was there.

If the prosecutor proves both these things, the judge may convict you. To prove these things, the prosecutor will have witnesses – normally the police officer who arrested you – tell the court (or testify) about the situation when they found the marijuana on you. Witnesses testify under oath, meaning they promise to tell the truth. You can question, or cross-examine, each witness the prosecutor uses.

Obama, Calderón y el "Chapo" Guzmán, contra legalización de mariguana en CA.

LOS ANGELES, Cal.- El olor a canabbis quemada es tan consubstancial en la vía pública californiana, que desde hace décadas dejó de ser motivo de escándalo ciudadano.

* La Proposición 19 dejó de tener apoyo mayoritario, dicen encuestas
* Hay 5 millones de consumidores en un negocio de $15 mil millones

Con una población de consumidores ("macizos", en el argot popular), que puede llegar hasta los cinco millones, el debate por la legalización de la yerba se hace con ardor, por parte de grupos heterogéneos, en donde los extremos se tocan ya que entre los que se oponen figuran recalcitrantes ultraderechista y los presidentes Obama y Calderón, a los que la prensa añadió al Chapo Guzmán, pues en su calidad de principal introductor de esa droga al Golden State, no quiere perder un mercado en donde las transacciones ilegales de este enervante – el de mayor consumo en la entidad- se estiman en 15,000 millones de dólares al año. Los apoyadores sostienen que es una manera de terminar con la raíz del negocio ilícito.

Dinero habla....

El signo del dólar es un argumento en el tapete de las discusiones. Organizaciones a favor de la medida aseguran que el cultivo de la mariguana en California tiene un valor de 14 mil millones de dólares, doce mil millones más que la prestigiada cosecha de vino. Además, a la yerba del estado se le atribuye una mejor calidad que a la mexicana.

En algunas regiones, del Valle de San Joaquín – una de las zonas agrícolas más importantes del mundo, con una producción superior a os 30 mil millones de dólares anuales- el cultivo de la droga ya es fundamental, como en el condado de Mendocino. Al menos la mitad de la economía de ese condado depende del cultivo de la planta.

Hay proyecciones que indican que la legalización dispararía industrias auxiliares como la banca y la construcción.

Algo paradójico viene ocurriendo ya que la mayoría de quienes se oponen a la legalización son los que ganan dinero de la prohibición: las fuerzas del orden y la industria del alcohol. Sin embargo, hay organizaciones policiacas a favor.
Mientras tanto, el San Francisco Patient and Resource (Centro San Francisco de Recursos del Paciente) ha establecido un centro de tratamiento para el uso médico de la mariguana. El espacio atractivo, seguro se ha convertido en un gran negocio, atrayendo a pacientes de toda la ciudad ofreciendo extras como clases de meditación, eventos sociales, y el arte.

Impacto en consumo

Las discusiones se enfocan, en buena medida, en el impacto que tendría la legalización en un aumento en el consumo de la mariguana, con lo que esto supone en la generación de mentas enfermas por las adicciones. Jeffrey A. Miron, director de estudios de pregrado de la Universidad de Harvard , consideró: “El único impacto de la legalización que podría ser indeseable es un aumento en el uso de la marihuana, pero la magnitud de este aumento es probable que sea modesto. La derogación de la prohibición del alcohol en EE.UU. produjo un aumento en el consumo de alrededor de un 20%, mientras que la legalización de facto de la marihuana en Portugal en 2001 no causó ningún aumento detectable en el consumo; de hecho, el consumo fue más bajo después. En varios países, la tasa de consumo de marihuana muestra poca conexión con la severidad del régimen de prohibición. Por ejemplo, en los Países Bajos existe, virtualmente, una legalización, sin embargo la tasa de uso no difiere mucho de aquella en EE.UU”.

La discusión se enfoca, además, que si mariguana, considerada, junto con el alcohol, como “droga suave”, es puerta a las “drogas duras”, como la cocaína y la mentanfetaminas. Al respecto, la psicóloga Maribel Martínez, especialista en adicciones, con una trayectoria profesional de más de tres décadas, dijo: “En mi experiencia, no todos los que son usuarios de la mariguana evolucionan y buscan otro tipo de substancias; ser usuario tampoco establece el patrón de adicto. Creo que es un problema muy complejo en donde los actores tienen diferentes motivaciones”.