micro-criminalized

By M. L. Simon

Is  there  a light at the end of the tunnel ?

Is the international drug war  starting  to  wind down? In a word, maybe. Which is a much better word than the usual no we have been getting for the last 80 some years.

First  the  good  news  in Britain - cannabis use has been essentially micro-criminalized. What the heck is micro-criminalized?

It means that pot is not legal. But it also means pot is not very illegal, unlike the Class  A  drugs  that  include  Ecstasy,  LSD,  heroin  and  cocaine.

Pot  was  downgraded  from  a  schedule  B drug like amphetamines to a schedule C drug like anti-depressants, steroids, and other prescription
drugs. Marijuana then goes from an arrestable offence to a ticket only offence.

However,  other laws against pot will still remain on the books giving the  police  a wide latitude on who to arrest and what crime to charge
them  with.  The British police being sensible will turn their efforts to solving  real  crimes  rather  than  pursuing  the  minor vices of
otherwise law abiding citizens.

Dealing  and  growing  will still be illegal, but here again police in Britain  show  great  wisdom. Only the indiscreet will be charged. The
police  will not be pursuing pot criminals. Not full legalization by a long  shot  but  this  policy direction if pursued should lead to full
legalization in one to two years.

Farther  ahead  in  the  race to legalization are Portugal, Spain, and Italy  who  have effectively decriminalized personal possession of all
drugs.

The  news  in  the Netherlands on the medical marijuana front is quite interesting.  Medical  marijuana  is  to become an official government
health  benefit. 

Patients  with  a doctors prescription for marijuana will  be  able  to  fill it at a local pharmacy. Quite a contrast with our  DEA  who  have  been arresting doctors in California recommending marijuana  and  confiscating  their patient records as well as busting a medical  marijuana  dispensary  run  by the city of West Hollywood.
This  dispensary  was  run  under  California law with the blessing of the  county  sheriff  and  the involvement of a local city councilman.

It  seems  that  the  DEA  in  America is doing its best to drive this natural  medicine  underground.  Despite  the  wishes of the voters in
California.  Isn't  it  great  to  live  in  a free republic where the wishes  of  the  voters  are  respected? No doubt we are a light and a
beacon  to  the  world. Without agencies like the DEA America would be just  another  banana  republic. 

How  about  some  good news on the American front ?

The American Senate in  its  own  small  way  seems  to  be  wising  up to the disaster in Colombia. The President has asked for $731 million to fight terrorism/drugs/communists  (take  your  pick) in Colombia. The Senate has  reduced  that  number to $567 million. Not a huge reduction to be sure  but  it  is  one  of the first times that a President has gotten less  for  prohibition  enforcement in foreign countries than he asked for.


M.  L.  Simon  is  an  industrial  controls  designer  and independent political activist.