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Guest
You really ready for pot to be advertised on the Super Bowl ads? Bongs, clips, cookies…Hey its America !! If pot is legalized, I want to file the lawsuit to allow pot and paraphernalia to be advertised LIKE beer…You people who equate booz and pot going to change your logic and now say that pot and beer should NOT be treated the same???
Catholics who want to learn facts can read the following and go to
teen-alcohol-addiction.com/teen_addiction/teen-marijuana-and-alcohol-abuse-can-lead-to-brain-damage.php
MARIJUANA AND INCARCERATION
Federal marijuana investigations and prosecutions usually involve hundreds of pounds of marijuana. Few defendants are incarcerated in federal prison for simple possession of marijuana.
In 2001, there were 24,299 offenders sentenced in federal court on drug charges. Of those, only 2.3 per cent (186 people) were sentenced for simple possession.55 In addition, it is important to recognize that many inmates were initially charged with more serious crimes but negotiated reduced charges to simple possession through plea agreements.56
According to the latest survey data in a 2005 ONDCP study, marijuana accounted for 13 per cent of all state drug offenders in 1997, and of the inmates convicted of marijuana offenses, only 0.7 per cent were incarcerated for marijuana possession alone.57
THE FOREIGN EXPERIENCE
The Netherlands
Due to international pressure on permissive Dutch cannabis policy and domestic complaints over the spread of marijuana “coffee shops,” the government of the Netherlands has reconsidered its legalization measures. After marijuana became normalized, consumption nearly tripled – from 15 per cent to 44 per cent – among 18 to 20 year-old Dutch youth.58 As a result of stricter local government policies, the number of cannabis “coffeehouses” in the Netherlands was reduced – from 1,179 in 199759 to 737 in 2004, a 37 per cent decrease in 7 years.60
About 70 per cent of Dutch towns have a zero-tolerance policy toward cannabis cafes.61
In August 2004, after local governments began clamping down on cannabis “coffeehouses” seven years earlier, the government of the Netherlands formally announced a shift in its cannabis policy through the United National International Narcotics Control Board (INCB). According to “an inter-ministerial policy paper on cannabis, the government acknowledged that ‘cannabis is not harmless’ – neither for the abusers, nor for the community.” Netherlands intends to reduce the number of coffee shops (especially those near border areas and schools), closely monitor drug tourism, and implement an action plan to discourage cannabis use. This public policy change brings the Netherlands "closer towards full compliance with the international drug control treaties with regard to cannabis."62
Dr. Ernest Bunning, formerly with Holland’s Ministry of Health and a principal proponent of that country’s liberal drug philosophy, has acknowledged that, "[t]here are young people who abuse soft drugs . . . particularly those that have [a] high THC [content]. The place that cannabis takes in their lives becomes so dominant they don’t have space for the other important things in life. They crawl out of bed in the morning, grab a joint, don’t work, smoke another joint. They don’t know what to do with their lives."63
Switzerland
Liberalization of marijuana laws in Switzerland has likewise produced damaging results. After liberalization, Switzerland became a magnet for drug users from many other countries. In 1987, Zurich permitted drug use and sales in a part of the city called Platzpitz, dubbed “Needle Park.” By 1992, the number of regular drug users at the park reportedly swelled from a “few hundred at the outset in 1987 to about 20,000.” The area around the park became crime-ridden, forcing closure of the park. The experiment has since been terminated.64
Canada:
After a large decline in the 1980s, marijuana use among teens increased during the 1990s as young people became “confused about the state of federal pot law” in the wake of an aggressive decriminalization campaign, according to a special adviser to Health Canada’s Director General of drug strategy. Several Canadian drug surveys show that marijuana use among Canadian youth has steadily climbed to surpass its 26-year peak, rising to 29.6 per cent of youth in grades 7-12 in 2003.65
United Kingdom:
In March 2005, British Home Secretary Charles Clarke took the unprecedented step of calling “for a rethink on Labour’s legal downgrading of cannabis” from a Class B to a Class C substance. Mr. Clarke requested that the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs complete a new report, taking into account recent studies showing a link between cannabis and psychosis and also considering the more potent cannabis referred to as "skunk."66
In 2005, during a general election speech to concerned parents, British Prime Minister Tony Blair noted that medical evidence increasingly suggests that cannabis is not as harmless as people think and warned parents that young people who smoke cannabis could move on to harder drugs.67
Catholics who want to learn facts can read the following and go to
teen-alcohol-addiction.com/teen_addiction/teen-marijuana-and-alcohol-abuse-can-lead-to-brain-damage.php
MARIJUANA AND INCARCERATION
Federal marijuana investigations and prosecutions usually involve hundreds of pounds of marijuana. Few defendants are incarcerated in federal prison for simple possession of marijuana.
In 2001, there were 24,299 offenders sentenced in federal court on drug charges. Of those, only 2.3 per cent (186 people) were sentenced for simple possession.55 In addition, it is important to recognize that many inmates were initially charged with more serious crimes but negotiated reduced charges to simple possession through plea agreements.56
According to the latest survey data in a 2005 ONDCP study, marijuana accounted for 13 per cent of all state drug offenders in 1997, and of the inmates convicted of marijuana offenses, only 0.7 per cent were incarcerated for marijuana possession alone.57
THE FOREIGN EXPERIENCE
The Netherlands
Due to international pressure on permissive Dutch cannabis policy and domestic complaints over the spread of marijuana “coffee shops,” the government of the Netherlands has reconsidered its legalization measures. After marijuana became normalized, consumption nearly tripled – from 15 per cent to 44 per cent – among 18 to 20 year-old Dutch youth.58 As a result of stricter local government policies, the number of cannabis “coffeehouses” in the Netherlands was reduced – from 1,179 in 199759 to 737 in 2004, a 37 per cent decrease in 7 years.60
About 70 per cent of Dutch towns have a zero-tolerance policy toward cannabis cafes.61
In August 2004, after local governments began clamping down on cannabis “coffeehouses” seven years earlier, the government of the Netherlands formally announced a shift in its cannabis policy through the United National International Narcotics Control Board (INCB). According to “an inter-ministerial policy paper on cannabis, the government acknowledged that ‘cannabis is not harmless’ – neither for the abusers, nor for the community.” Netherlands intends to reduce the number of coffee shops (especially those near border areas and schools), closely monitor drug tourism, and implement an action plan to discourage cannabis use. This public policy change brings the Netherlands "closer towards full compliance with the international drug control treaties with regard to cannabis."62
Dr. Ernest Bunning, formerly with Holland’s Ministry of Health and a principal proponent of that country’s liberal drug philosophy, has acknowledged that, "[t]here are young people who abuse soft drugs . . . particularly those that have [a] high THC [content]. The place that cannabis takes in their lives becomes so dominant they don’t have space for the other important things in life. They crawl out of bed in the morning, grab a joint, don’t work, smoke another joint. They don’t know what to do with their lives."63
Switzerland
Liberalization of marijuana laws in Switzerland has likewise produced damaging results. After liberalization, Switzerland became a magnet for drug users from many other countries. In 1987, Zurich permitted drug use and sales in a part of the city called Platzpitz, dubbed “Needle Park.” By 1992, the number of regular drug users at the park reportedly swelled from a “few hundred at the outset in 1987 to about 20,000.” The area around the park became crime-ridden, forcing closure of the park. The experiment has since been terminated.64
Canada:
After a large decline in the 1980s, marijuana use among teens increased during the 1990s as young people became “confused about the state of federal pot law” in the wake of an aggressive decriminalization campaign, according to a special adviser to Health Canada’s Director General of drug strategy. Several Canadian drug surveys show that marijuana use among Canadian youth has steadily climbed to surpass its 26-year peak, rising to 29.6 per cent of youth in grades 7-12 in 2003.65
United Kingdom:
In March 2005, British Home Secretary Charles Clarke took the unprecedented step of calling “for a rethink on Labour’s legal downgrading of cannabis” from a Class B to a Class C substance. Mr. Clarke requested that the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs complete a new report, taking into account recent studies showing a link between cannabis and psychosis and also considering the more potent cannabis referred to as "skunk."66
In 2005, during a general election speech to concerned parents, British Prime Minister Tony Blair noted that medical evidence increasingly suggests that cannabis is not as harmless as people think and warned parents that young people who smoke cannabis could move on to harder drugs.67