Florida will be the next battleground for the Medical
Marijuana issue to surface. In 2014 voters will have the opportunity to voice
their opinions on the matter; this has also given the state’s law enforcement
brigades a reason to form an alliance to combat this issue. Elected Sheriffs from all across the state are
teaming up to write articles in local papers, performing community outreach
projects and citizen awareness campaigns on what they see as the dangers to
society if medical marijuana were to be legalized or at a very least
decriminalized. What I am here to say is
“Sheriffs, Shut up already”.
If it is to be said that Law enforcement is the part of any
government that’s sole reason for existence is to enforce the laws, ticket,
fine or apprehend and incarcerate law breakers, then it should matter not what
the laws are. As a collective of elected officials that swear to uphold the
states laws and codes there should be no comment from this group as it would be
in their special interest that any substance and product be illegal. In line
with the most common defense of their actions, “just doing their jobs”, this
would mean that groups of elected sheriffs and officers should not try to
influence the changing of these laws by activism or advocacy campaigns.
The
Florida Sheriffs Association cites multiple reasons why they oppose these
reform measures. Most of these reasons are for the belief in the order to
protect the common good or public welfare. Other reasons given by law
enforcement are the reports of rising crime rates in areas where marijuana is
legalized or decriminalized. Some of these reports are false and others
unsupported, but that’s no reason to throw out the results say officers. “Florida’s
sheriffs believe that legalizing smoking marijuana, which has no accepted
medical use and a high potential for abuse, is a dangerous decision for our
state and its citizens. Florida’s Sheriffs stand firm in their opposition to
the legalization of the use, possession, cultivation, delivery and sale of
marijuana”, Says their website.
The Association also puts in a disclaimer, “Florida sheriffs
agree that there may be strains of marijuana that can provide relief for
children with severe, intractable seizures.
This type of marijuana is high in CBD, a pain relieving and
anti-convulsing component of marijuana, and contains minimal amounts of
tetrahydrocannabinol (the psychoactive ingredient that produces a high). Sheriffs are concerned about manipulation of
families in need if the production, distribution, monitoring and quality
control are not well defined and regulated.” This is an example of exclusionary
or discretionary liberty. When a group or groups are permitted while others are
punished for the same act it does not send a clear message as to the reason for
the ban in the first place. If the health risks are too great for recreational
use by non-sick people than it stands that the health risk would be the same
for sick persons. If the safety and security of the community be the reason it
stands that the Association would define all crimes as being committed by those
who do not suffer from these diseases. Though no study has been done to find
this I would bet there would be at least some crime being committed by those
that would be accepted to use medical marijuana.
On another side of this issue is the group Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP). LEAP
is a group of law enforcement personnel that oppose not only the prohibition of
marijuana but of all recognized drugs and substances. Their statement is, “History
has shown that drug prohibition reduces neither use nor abuse. After a rapist
is arrested, there are fewer rapes. After a drug dealer is arrested, however,
neither the supply nor the demand for drugs is seriously changed. The arrest
merely creates a job opening for an endless stream of drug entrepreneurs who
will take huge risks for the sake of the enormous profits created by
prohibition. Prohibition costs taxpayers tens of billions of dollars every
year, yet 40 years and some 40 million arrests later, drugs are cheaper, more
potent and far more widely used than at the beginning of this futile crusade.”
This is a different view in that instead of police punishing users, seller,
buyers, cooks, growers and producers the riddance of prohibition will lead to
more crimes of violence or property theft and damage. LEAP believes in a system
of regulation and distribution but doesn’t mention who would have this control.
This is an area I would like more details to be released.
One more way to look at this issue is the idea of complete
abolition of all laws and regulations on every substance, natural plant or drug
that is currently under the control of government. This belief is one that
reduces the issue down to the basic aspect of property rights and self-ownership.
If every man be respected to own and use his property in any way that does not
interfere in the rights of others this issue is resolved under this ultimate
idea. We do not live in such a world though. We live in a world where what a
man does in his own home to his own body by voluntary means has somehow
directed an effect unto the entirety of the public and should be shunned and
punished by captivity.
The idea of self-governance and self-ownership is lost on
the majority of the public. It is a concept that takes away the power to
dictate others actions and set prejudices against things or situations that
they morally admonish or oppose and replace it with responsibility for one’s own self and nothing
more.
The War on Drugs is ultimately a war on freedom and choice.
It is a war on individual liberty and self-ownership. It is the opposition to
the freedom that many people claim they seek and many more claim they support.
The War on drugs is in one sentence a War on People.
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