Editorial on the Marijuana Re-Legalization (MRL) Project

By Professor Hemp (05/02/2002)

 On Saturday, May 4th, 2002, citizens in over 190 cities throughout the world joined together to call for an end to Marijuana Prohibition for medicinal, agricultural, industrial and Personal use. The event was the 3rd Annual Million Marijuana March. Many European countries are already well on their way towards this goal. The United States is actually one of the most stubborn holdouts to Marijuana reform.

 Despite 70% voter support for medical use, President George Bush continues to wage a war against victims of AIDS, Cancer, Glaucoma and other diseases who chose to use Marijuana to alleviate their pain. Bush has gone back on his campaign promise to respect state rights and has instead ignored the wishes of voters in 9 states.  As a direct result of his actions many sick Americans are being forced to suffer and the media has been relatively silent about this travesty.  It is not what we would expect from a president who, on numerous occasions, has referred to himself as a “compassionate conservative.”

 In terms of recreational use the number of arrests for Marijuana has nearly tripled since President Clinton came into office in 1993.  In 2001 nearly 750,000 Americans were arrested and branded with criminal records for Marijuana offenses.  Nearly 80% of those arrested were merely casual users caught with nominal amounts of “weed.”  Since the Nixon administration numerous federal commissions have concluded that Marijuana is not any more harmful to society or individuals than drinking a beer.  But because of pressure from various special interests (e.g., Pharmaceutical, Prison, Alcohol, and Tobacco lobbies) the recommendations have consistently been ignored by both congress and the presidential bully pulpit.

 New Age Citizen believes now is the time to put an end to this charade and is embarking on what will be known as the Marijuana Re-Legalization (MRL) Project. The purpose of the MRL Project is to garner grassroots support for a specific model of Marijuana reform. 

 Under this model the non-commercial cultivation of Marijuana by adults will become legal and will be specifically exempt from any form of government taxation or interference.  As support for drug reform continues to grow it is our hope that this elegant and simple model will be used, by citizens throughout the world, to insure that no one, including the government, is allowed to excessively profit from the cultivation and sale of Marijuana.

Here is a the encapsulated description of the "Marijuana Re-Legalization Policy" (MRP):

"The most important aspect to any reform in Cannabis law needs to minimally allow non-commercial cultivation, by adults above the age of 18, to be done without any form of government taxation or interference."

 But, of course, there will be a pay off for both the government and the citizens it is supposed to represent.  That benefit will come as the 30 million Americans, that are paying as much as $500 per ounce, will be able to grow it themselves for next to nothing.  The money saved will be diverted from illegal growers and instead will be spent in the legitimate economy.  And the beauty of this model will be that it won’t require another government bureaucracy to be formed and subsidized by further taxation of its citizenry.  While governments are free to regulate commercial sale, the proposed model will explicitly restrict any significant profit the government might hope to make.  As soon as the commercial price goes up the people will simply go back to growing their own.  If this proposal strikes a chord now is the time to begin sharing the MRL concept with both friends and elected representatives.  And if your representative won’t support MRL, I have a suspicion that more and more candidates are going to surface that will.

The MRP Project will encompass all of the activities required to gain acceptance and implementation of the policy into law. The first phase of the project is to get feedback from both activists and the general public. This will be followed by getting feedback from some of the more noted activists and drug reform organizations.

If you would like to provide feedback, on your impressions "Marijuana Re-Legalization Policy" (MRP), please send to "newagecitizenx@comcast.net" and just type "MRP" into the subject field. I will be sharing these viewpoints in future eLetters and at the NAC website.

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