Two major victories for drug de-criminalization and public health, which go hand-in-hand, were recently scored in Nevada. The state’s medical marijuana law, first passed in 1998, required the legislature to create mechanisms for dispensing the drug to patients, and that has finally occurred. Nevada’s Republican governor, Brian Sandoval, signed into law Senate Bill 374, which will establish a state-regulated system of dispensaries, with at least one in each county.
Nevada joins Arizona, Colorado, Maine, New Jersey, New Mexico, and Rhode Island on the list of states that have state-regulated medical marijuana dispensaries. As reported by StopTheDrugWar.org, an organization dedicated to raising awareness of the consequences of prohibition, the bill creates rules and regulations not only for dispensaries, but also for infused product manufacturers and cultivation and testing facilities. Additionally, it imposes 2% excise taxes on both wholesale and retail sales, with 75 percent of revenues going to state education funding and 25 percent going to cover the cost of regulating the medical marijuana industry.
I have advocated for the decriminalization of marijuana on the grounds that policing it has been shown to be biased, wasteful, and ineffective. Arrests for simple possession of marijuana are continuing despite the fact that 18 states now allow for medicinal marijuana use and 13 states have passed or expanded laws decriminalizing marijuana use in recent years, most recently Colorado and Washington State, which made it legal to smoke marijuana recreationally – without a prescription or medical excuse.
But public health is another valid reason for the decriminalization of this drug. There are multiple accepted medical uses for marijuana: relief from the side effects of chemotherapy such as nausea and reduced appetite, chronic pain, and palliative care in cancer and HIV patients, to name a few. Federal law has not kept pace with science in this area, as marijuana is still designated a Schedule I drug under the Controlled Substances Act. Federal enforcement efforts have been sporadic, but local enforcement in those states that have not legalized the drug has increased, in part due to federal programs that use arrest numbers to measure performance when distributing hundreds of millions of dollars to local law enforcement agencies annually.
Those states that have legalized marijuana are choosing to forgo those federal dollars in exchange for local tax dollars in the case of states that have set up regulated dispensaries and tax structures.
In another step forward for public health, Sandoval also signed into law Senate Bill 410, which decriminalizes the possession of syringes by removing them from the state’s drug paraphernalia list. Nevada is now the 37th state to decriminalize syringe possession, which allows for the over-the-counter sale of needles, as well as clean needle exchange programs. Both are proven means of reducing the transmission of HIV, viral hepatitis, and other blood-borne infections, according to public health experts.
In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has said:
While some fear that such programs will increase drug use or contribute to general lawlessness, the overwhelming body of research indicates that the presence of Syringe Exchange Programs (SEPs) does not result in increased drug use or crime. On the contrary, SEPs increase the availability of drug treatment for both injection and non-injection drug users, and have been shown to decrease the rate of drug use.
And according to the World Health Organization, SEPs are a vital tool in curbing the spread of HIV among intravenous drug users.
Nevada’s leaders have seen the connection between the “war on drugs” and public health, and they have chosen the health of the people of their state over a failed law enforcement effort that has done nothing to stem the tide of drugs in the decades it has been in effect – and has actually stymied the efforts of public health officials in the meantime. Washington, DC, Vermont, Connecticut and Massachusetts are also in the process of creating local networks of state-regulated marijuana dispensaries, which will increase the number of local governments that are moving forward based on the science and humanity of decriminalizing certain drugs and paraphernalia for the greater good.
Amy Lazenby is the associate opinion editor at FITSNews. She is a wife, mother of three and small business owner with her husband who splits her time between South Carolina and Georgia. Follow her on Twitter @Mrs_Laz or email her at amy@fitsnews.com.
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79 comments
“I been smokin dope every day for the last 20 years, and I ain’t hooked”….
Fact is: Liberals keep banging the drum for more and more vice and dangerous behavior. The country is in a mess, and the LAST thing we need is MORE liberalism and doped-up leftwing idiots. You swear it takes a village, but all you do is keep polluting the village.
You’ve Failed over and over. But the media whispers sweet stupidity in your ears…
So you just keep pounding polices that harm families and make more a disaster of our country…and you NEVER account for the mess you make, because you are Spoiled children who get your way…..
PS: The name of that Nevada town in your photo should be ‘Panacea’…like you claim all your ignorant ideas are….
The close to 1 million people arrested each year for marijuana has hurt families more then a stupid plant.
Not to mention all of the sick people who are helped. I’m going to take the interpretation of the CDC and the WHO over that of BigT.
Frack WHO. When did the CDC come out in favor of this?
I know people with cancer and people who’ve smoked for 40 years. I’ve also known people who’ve smoke cigs for 40 years and got lung cancer while crying about medicaid. It’s rare to see lung cancer in pot smokers.
Man..you are one hateful, liberal B@$*ard….Obama is a real nice guy, I see…
Yeah, I watched my dad smoke for 40 years killing himself with cigarrettes and boose, have a heart attack, lung cancer, then stroke, and bitch about getting the government to help with his physical theraphy while also bitching about “Why do I have to pay for someone’s birth control?” My mom lost her insurance and job under BUSH, ironically.
I sure am one hateful bastard for idiots falling for it. Big tobacco and ignorance go hand and hand. You smoke, T?
Sounds like you are for OUTLAWING cigaretts because they are dangerous. But you want more drugs…and they are even more dangerous…
You are a typical Obama-@$$ kisser, who demands rights to ruin your life, then whines when you have to pay the consequences…
want ALL Rights, and NO Responsibility. It’s people, like you who have REALLY F*#ked up the country…and now you are just doing more harm, under your god, Obama…
My point above was this: Pot is far less dangerous, and has medicinal value; It can actually help people. People like my dad took no responsbility and bitched about healthcare. I said nothing about outlawing anything, you dumb shit. People can chose to be stupid and smoke all the fucking cigs they want, but I don’t want to pay for your stupidity. Hope to got it this round because You’re too goddamn much of an idiot to converse with.
Edit: Hope “you got it, not “to.”
Yeah, bet you’ve been smoking crack for 20 years…
So tell me, T, which choice to treat my RSD is more beneficial–taking two different forms of Dilaudid several times a day, plus 2400mg of gabapentin (an anticonvulsant), 30mg of Baclofen (muscle relaxer), ativan for the associated anxiety, citalopram for the associated depression, and 100mg of promethazine for the nausea I deal with daily from the pain…taking all of that, or simply smoking cannabis once or twice a day, which treats all of that FAR BETTER than the meds do, while not being nearly as harmful to my body? Do you think allowing me to smoke cannabis is more harmful to my family than me taking these pills and being nedridden and sick all of the time? What about down the road, will my family be better with me dead from years of taking these prescriptions, or with me alive and in control of my condition by using cannabis?
I get that you’re a troll and are gonna find a problem in anything and everything, but honestly, if it were you in my position, would you be singing the same tune?
(that last line is rhetorical)
A lot of liberals exploit the truly suffering (the poor, suffering women, the sick) to push radical and extreme causes…
For every one legitimate case, there are 300 liars using the legitimate…and it is VERY damaging to society,…and liberals do not care about anything but themselves, and their vices….
I do get that completely, and I agree that malingerers are a problem, but perhaps the bigger issue is the government (supposedly) trying to legislate morality with the drug war. I do think that if cannabis legalization wasn’t seen as a threat to the profits of the alcohol, tobacco, pharmaceutical, textile, oil, food, timber, and prison industry there wouldn’t be an issue. After all, Anslinger started the crusade because he wanted justification for starting a huge new police entity and Hearst because of his investment in timbers.
Affirmative Action and Welfare are laws forcing a moral code on people…even though the prosecutors are more Racist or greedy than the people they are punishing…
Liberals and Liberal-Tarians stand by and keep shut up regarding legislated morality, and the injustice all the time…if it fits their edicts…
Drugs harm a lot more people than they will EVER help. And there are far more alternatives to smoking pot for pain…
There are other alternatives, many of which I have tried. The problem is I have yet to find one that work nearly as well and that was even close to being as cheap a cannabis. If you know od an alternative that is just as inexpensive, please tell me.
A day in my shoes and you would agree, that I am certain of.
A lot of liberals exploit the truly suffering (the poor, suffering women, the sick) to push radical and extreme causes…
For every one legitimate case, there are 300 liars using the legitimate…and it is VERY damaging to society,…and liberals do not care about anything but themselves, and their vices….
Come now Mrs. Lazenby. Tell the truth. You know you want some brownies. Can’t wait to find out how that Blunt is? Missing that toke? Do you miss saying ‘Hey, Pass that dube my way bra’.’
Damn, FP. You’ve got the lingo down, dude.
Puff…puff…pass, eh?
*coughs*
Come now Mrs. Lazenby. Tell the truth. You know you want some brownies. Can’t wait to find out how that Blunt is? Missing that toke? Do you miss saying ‘Hey, Pass that dube my way bra’.’
Damn, FP. You’ve got the lingo down, dude.
Puff…puff…pass, eh?
*coughs*
So, had the opportunity to finish reading the article. This is a very rough shod way of marching towards legalization of the hard stuff. Damn Lazenby. Let the fracking pen cool off before you start marching toward legalizing the likes of Heroin and Meth.
Personally I could give a hoot who hits a joint now and again. I think its a waste of time. I’ll go further in saying we would have a lot less trouble with the hard stuff if the DEA were nixed altogether. The only reason I quit MJ was because it could have impacted my being able to be there for my children.
Probably wouldn’t take it up again though. I’m getting to a point where more than two beers really tears me up for days. Too old I guess.
Still, got a say this is a poorly written article at best Mrs. Lazenby. Two different subjects. You started fine with the MJ stuff, but then stuffing this ‘We gotta save the guys life from killing himself with AIDS/HepC/etc so she/he can do it by main lining with a clean needle’?? Nah. Poor article.
Legalizing MJ and decriminalizing syringes are both public health issues. Apparently, you didn’t get that point. Nor did you read the statement from the CDC above that says that decriminalizing syringes has not been shown to increase drug use or crime – it actually decreases rate of drug use and increases treatment availability. It’s not that hard to understand.
Negative. MJ is not a public health issue (read concern).
I disagree that giving out needles decreases hard core use. That’s like saying increasing the speed limit decreases traffic fatalities. Common Curiousless. You’ve got more sense than that.
Trust me, if you or someone you love has cancer, AIDS, a chronic pain condition, or is dying, MJ most certainly is a public health issue. Why deny a drug that has been shown to help these people to them? That is inhumane and ridiculous.
Read the post moron. I didn’t say it should be illegal. I did state clearly and concisely that the DEA should be closed for business. Know what you are talking about before you open the spigot.
Hoof in mouth is rampant on this site. Crapola.
So, had the opportunity to finish reading the article. This is a very rough shod way of marching towards legalization of the hard stuff. Damn Lazenby. Let the fracking pen cool off before you start marching toward legalizing the likes of Heroin and Meth.
Personally I could give a hoot who hits a joint now and again. I think its a waste of time. I’ll go further in saying we would have a lot less trouble with the hard stuff if the DEA were nixed altogether. The only reason I quit MJ was because it could have impacted my being able to be there for my children.
Probably wouldn’t take it up again though. I’m getting to a point where more than two beers really tears me up for days. Too old I guess.
Still, got a say this is a poorly written article at best Mrs. Lazenby. Two different subjects. You started fine with the MJ stuff, but then stuffing this ‘We gotta save the guys life from killing himself with AIDS/HepC/etc so she/he can do it by main lining with a clean needle’?? Nah. Poor article.
Legalizing MJ and decriminalizing syringes are both public health issues. Apparently, you didn’t get that point. Nor did you read the statement from the CDC above that says that decriminalizing syringes has not been shown to increase drug use or crime – it actually decreases rate of drug use and increases treatment availability. It’s not that hard to understand.
Negative. MJ is not a public health issue (read concern).
I disagree that giving out needles decreases hard core use. That’s like saying increasing the speed limit decreases traffic fatalities. Common Curiousless. You’ve got more sense than that.
Trust me, if you or someone you love has cancer, AIDS, a chronic pain condition, or is dying, MJ most certainly is a public health issue. Why deny a drug that has been shown to help these people to them? That is inhumane and ridiculous.
Read the post moron. I didn’t say it should be illegal. I did state clearly and concisely that the DEA should be closed for business. Know what you are talking about before you open the spigot.
Hoof in mouth is rampant on this site. Crapola.
Obama wants oil drilling and coal to be illegal, and these Dumb@$$#$ want more Dope to more pollute the society…
Any wonder Liberal is synonymous w/ FAILURE???
If you look at the SLED state crime report for 2011 (the last year available) you will see that there were 32,400 drug arrests in SC that year which was far more than any other category and was 16.5% of all arrests in SC. The SC budget that year spent 702 million dollars on law enforcement and prisons (that doesn’t include city police and county sheriff and jail budgets). If you average it out that means that SC spent 115 million dollars arresting and locking up drug offenders in addition to whatever money was spent by cities and counties. Of course none of this money actually stopped drug use in SC. Do we really think this
is a wise use of our tax dollars? Where are the fiscal conservatives on this issue?
I’m so glad they put those ignorant drug addicts in jail. Good work, officers…
On the streets, drug addicts kill, sexually assault, rob and F*#k up a lot of society. Lock em up…even riase my taxes, for more prisons. I’d rather pay more to incarcerate drug addicts than put my family at risk…
As for the meth addicts I agree with you and certainly an argument could be made for the crack addicts too. The problem GrandTango, is that you want to make me and many others spend our tax dollars to lock up pot heads who are not killing, robbing or raping anyone. Their only socially detrimental actions are creating a market for inane movies such as Cheech and Chong and Pineapple Express and keeping convenience stores open 24/7 to satisfy the munchies. Hardly a problem worth spending our hard earned tax dollars on.
I doubt many people really get busted just for pot, unless you’re stupid. And that’s likely really why you’re in jail;…stupidity…and what you do because of it…
And that means most in jail are liberals or democrat voters…that’s why these Dumb@$$#$ – like Lizenby- want them out…but rest assured..under Obama, criminals can vote as many times as they want….
You are wrong about that if you believe the national crime statistics put out by the FBI for 2011. According to the FBI over half of all drug busts in the South for possession were for pot. On the distribution/manufacturing side the arrest rate for pot is just a hair under the combined busts for cocaine/heroin. If you even it out that would make the SC money spent on pot busts in the 50 to 60 million dollars range for 2011 (not counting city and county sheriff and jail costs). Sure is a lot of taxpayer money to lock up folks for smoking and selling weed. .
If you know that…then you’re a Dumb@$$ for using pot…
Again: Pot is BAD and Bad for you. If the government has to save the STUPID from themselves…so be it…I support that. You can’t always do what you want…Accept it,and STFU…
But QUIT trying to sell a bunch of lies because you just want your way….
No GT, I know that because I actually looked it up before posting. That is obviously something that you don’t bother to do. Since your reply is nothing more than your preaching and telling everyone who disagrees with you to STFU I suggest that you change your screen name to the person who you have the most in common with…Archie Bunker!
Sounds like you only post, based on what you’re told by other people…
I’ve been around long enough that liberals, will invent data for and say anything to get their puppets to follow (and quote) them…
Drugs are BAD…We do not need to make anything that damages our society, and makes raising children more difficult, easier to get…
Hillary told you it takes a village, and you believe anything and everything your liberal idols tell you. Don’t pollute the village that you depend on to bring up your children….Are you THAT stupid???
While I applaud your concern about the wellbeing of our children, you are misinformed about whether legalization will make it easier for children to get weed. Ask any teenager these days whether it is easier for them to get weed or alcohol and they will say weed is far easier for them to get than alcohol. Your local dealer doesn’t check ID’s…stores do. While legalization will make it easier for adults to get weed , it will actually make it harder for underaged people to get it.
If stupid = jail, you’ld be in a SuperMax.
Not to mention The Hobbit, Monte Python Movies and A Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.
“Lock em up…even riase my taxes, for more prisons.”
You might be happy to know that the US incarcerates the most people in the world. More than the Soviet Union and China:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_incarceration_rate
We are truly the land of the free.
Big T: “Mission Accomplished!”
Liberals have been very successful at convincing the stupid and easily-led, like ?, they have all the rights and privileges…but no responsibility…
God gives you freedom, and good men even lost their lives to perseve it… but fools, like ?, will push the ignorant to abuse liberty til it’s gone…
Sooner or later, someone has to tell these undisciplined idiots NO…and they end up in jail…
People are imprisoned because they are criminals. They trusted your Stupid @$$. You told them they can do as they please, and never pay…
You should feel real proud for ruining so much hope and taking so much freedon…Dumb@$$….
Do you need something in your mouth?
I’ll say…first slap him all nine inches of limp dick, then…well, you know how to take it from there…
So, you’re not happy? You wanted more prisons but I just showed you we already have the most.
How many more prisons would make you happy? Is there a percentage increase you have in mind?
“On the streets, drug addicts kill, sexually assault, rob and F*#k up a lot of society.”
So lock them up for THOSE crimes.There is nothing to indicate that drug usage in and of itself causes any of that.
You’re right. People on drugs…never commit crimes…Only people using drugs, are using them for medicine…I should’ve known, and Lizenby says so…what was I thinking…
If you look at the SLED state crime report for 2011 (the last year available) you will see that there were 32,400 drug arrests in SC that year which was far more than any other category and was 16.5% of all arrests in SC. The SC budget that year spent 702 million dollars on law enforcement and prisons (that doesn’t include city police and county sheriff and jail budgets). If you average it out that means that SC spent 115 million dollars arresting and locking up drug offenders in addition to whatever money was spent by cities and counties. Of course none of this money actually stopped drug use in SC. Do we really think this
is a wise use of our tax dollars? Where are the fiscal conservatives on this issue?
Drug legalization has been batted around for years. It used to come up whenever the Grateful Dead came to town. Now the NORML crowd has found its way with the Public Health side of the argument. “If we legalize it for Public Health reasons, use it as medicine, with a prescription, it will be safe.” While there may be a very small percentage of people who will benefit from a prescription for marijuana, I don’t think that is why there is such a push for legalization.
This is less about legalizing marijuana and about the corner of freedom and responsibility. Your freedom ends when you lack the ability to exercise it responsibly. If someone goes out and buys a quarter pound of dope, takes it home and smokes it in the sanctity of their house over the next several weeks, chances are no one will know. That is responsible use of freedom. As the Founding Editor of the site eloquently posted in an article discussing addiction, not everyone is responsible with their freedom.
I do not want to have parks full of dopers, begging for money, sleeping in the same clothes that they’ve worn for weeks, crowding out the alcoholics who are doing the same thing. The very Public Health system that everyone touts as being the solution
for legalizing drugs is straining under the weight of all the other addictions that we’ve asked it to treat: Alcohol, nicotine, gambling, oxycodone, heroin. And we think that by adding another drug to that, we’re supposed to not have more people dumped into treatment?
What someone does, in their home, ought to be their business. But this country has shown a remarkable talent for taking a freedom, and turning it into a nightmare. Is this not the same ground swell of people who want to take away private ownership of guns under the philosophy that people are not responsible enough to own them? And in the same breath, people can be trusted with more drugs and addictions? Maybe if the population is stoned enough, they won’t care about gun control.
I really wish that the general public (most of whom are not smart enough to read this) could be the same type of folks who would drink a beer, have dinner and then go to bed. But as Americans have demonstrated with the astronomical rates at which we kill ourselves and others in drunk driving collisions, I just don’t think it’s true. I’m not willing to add another intoxicant to the legal mix.
Nah, it’s about legalizing a medicine that will help people with fewer side effects than so many other meds used to treat the same thing (I’d rather have someone smoke a joint 2x a day instead of getting addicted to prescribed oxycontin and sedatives) and promoting public health. Again, going with the analysis of the CDC and the WHO over what you wrote. MJ helps people with certain medical conditions and clean syringes reduce the spread of HIV and help with drug treatment – you know, according to the medical experts who know the facts and deal with this every day.
Thumbs down for lying to yourself Curious. The medical MJ stuff was cover to get it passed through legislatures while the boomers still had half their faculties. This entire craze is nothing more than an attempt to decriminalize/de-legislate recreational activities (as they damn well should be).
This is probably the only thing I will ever say came out of Oshitforbrains regime as being a good thing. Frankly it will be more of a bookmark than credit. He just happened to be there.
The fall of the DEA will be a great day. Now…How the hell do we get the CIA,NSA and FBI back where they belong? That is protecting Americans and not investigating Americans. Or maybe definitely investigating the activities of Amerikans.
-1/2 for your post for lying to yourself.
Drug legalization has been batted around for years. It used to come up whenever the Grateful Dead came to town. Now the NORML crowd has found its way with the Public Health side of the argument. “If we legalize it for Public Health reasons, use it as medicine, with a prescription, it will be safe.” While there may be a very small percentage of people who will benefit from a prescription for marijuana, I don’t think that is why there is such a push for legalization.
This is less about legalizing marijuana and about the corner of freedom and responsibility. Your freedom ends when you lack the ability to exercise it responsibly. If someone goes out and buys a quarter pound of dope, takes it home and smokes it in the sanctity of their house over the next several weeks, chances are no one will know. That is responsible use of freedom. As the Founding Editor of the site eloquently posted in an article discussing addiction, not everyone is responsible with their freedom.
I do not want to have parks full of dopers, begging for money, sleeping in the same clothes that they’ve worn for weeks, crowding out the alcoholics who are doing the same thing. The very Public Health system that everyone touts as being the solution
for legalizing drugs is straining under the weight of all the other addictions that we’ve asked it to treat: Alcohol, nicotine, gambling, oxycodone, heroin. And we think that by adding another drug to that, we’re supposed to not have more people dumped into treatment?
What someone does, in their home, ought to be their business. But this country has shown a remarkable talent for taking a freedom, and turning it into a nightmare. Is this not the same ground swell of people who want to take away private ownership of guns under the philosophy that people are not responsible enough to own them? And in the same breath, people can be trusted with more drugs and addictions? Maybe if the population is stoned enough, they won’t care about gun control.
I really wish that the general public (most of whom are not smart enough to read this) could be the same type of folks who would drink a beer, have dinner and then go to bed. But as Americans have demonstrated with the astronomical rates at which we kill ourselves and others in drunk driving collisions, I just don’t think it’s true. I’m not willing to add another intoxicant to the legal mix.
Nah, it’s about legalizing a medicine that will help people with fewer side effects than so many other meds used to treat the same thing (I’d rather have someone smoke a joint 2x a day instead of getting addicted to prescribed oxycontin and sedatives) and promoting public health. Again, going with the analysis of the CDC and the WHO over what you wrote. MJ helps people with certain medical conditions and clean syringes reduce the spread of HIV and help with drug treatment – you know, according to the medical experts who know the facts and deal with this every day.
Thumbs down for lying to yourself Curious. The medical MJ stuff was cover to get it passed through legislatures while the boomers still had half their faculties. This entire craze is nothing more than an attempt to decriminalize/de-legislate recreational activities (as they damn well should be).
This is probably the only thing I will ever say came out of Oshitforbrains regime as being a good thing. Frankly it will be more of a bookmark than credit. He just happened to be there.
The fall of the DEA will be a great day. Now…How the hell do we get the CIA,NSA and FBI back where they belong? That is protecting Americans and not investigating Americans. Or maybe definitely investigating the activities of Amerikans.
-1/2 for your post for lying to yourself.