Legalizing marijuana is a huge mistake. This won’t stop the drug cartels, legal challenges will still abound, medical costs will increase, and people’s lives will be degraded or ruined. If you need a high, go go for a hike, take a friend or family to a movie, start a bridge club! There is no social or personal value to pot use.

And to pretend legalization will provide an economic boom of some type is simply ignoring the costs associated with legalization.

http://www.drugsense.org/cms/wodclock

* In 2010, 52.1% of the 1,638,846 total arrests for prohibition violations were for marijuana — making a calculated total of 853,839.

* Of those, an estimated 750,591 people (45.8%) were arrested for marijuana possession alone.

* By contrast, in 2000, a total of 734,497 Americans were arrested for marijuana “violations”, of which 646,042 (40.9%) were for possession alone.

* From 1996-2010, there were 10.1 million arrests for marijuana possession and 1.4 million arrests for the sales and distribution of marijuana, equaling a total of 11.5 million marijuana arrests during that fifteen year time frame.

http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/Marijuana#Total

* Marijuana “violation” arrests were 39.9% of total prohibition arrests in 1995 increasing to 52.1% of such arrests in 2010.

* During this same period, arrests for marijuana sales and distribution fluctuated between 5-6% of total prohibition arrests, while those for simple possession increased from 34.1% in 1995 to 45.8% in 2010.

* Arrests for marijuana possession have risen from about a third to about a half of all prohibition violation arrests over the fifteen year 1995-2010 period.

http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/Marijuana#Share

“Drug Policy and the incarceration of low-level drug offenders is the primary cause of mass incarceration in the United States. 40% of drug arrests are for simple possession of marijuana. There is also evidence that drug enforcement has diverted resources from law enforcement of violent crimes and other threats to public safety” – page 2

“Criminalization has resulted in increased use of harsh punitive sanctions imposed on drug offenders and dramatic increases in rates of incarceration. These policies have had limited impact on eliminating or reducing illegal drug use and may have resulted in adverse consequences for social and community health” – page 2

“Criminalization of possession and illegal use of drugs compounded by mandatory sentencing and lengthy prison sanctions for low-level drug use has become the primary cause of mass incarceration. The global prison population has skyrocketed in the last three decades with ten million people worldwide now in jails and prisons. The extraordinary increase in the number of people now incarcerated has had tremendous implications for state and national governments dealing with global recession and a range of economic, social and political challenges. Research indicates that resources that would otherwise be spent on development, infrastructure, education and health care have been redirected over the last two decades to incarcerating drug offenders, many of whom are low-level users.” – page 3

“Sociologists have also recently observed that the widespread incarceration of men in low-income communities has had a profound negative impact on social and cultural norms relating to family and opportunity. Increases in the imprisonment of poor and minority women with children have now been linked with rising numbers of displaced children and dependents. Drug policy and the over-reliance on incarceration is seen by many experts as contributing to increased rates of chronic unemployment, destabilization of families and increased risk of reincarceration for the formerly incarcerated.” – page 3

“In the United States, drug arrests have tripled in the last 25 years, however most of these arrests have been for simple possession of low-level drugs. In 2005, nearly 43% of all drug arrests were for marijuana offenses. Marijuana possession arrests accounted for 79% of the growth in drug arrests in the 1990s. Nearly a half million people are in state or federal prisons or a local jail for a drug offense, compared to 41,000 in 1980. Most of these people have no history of violence or high-level drug selling activity” – page 4

“With over 5 million people on probation or parole in the United States, drug use on parole or probation has become the primary basis by which thousands of people are returned to prison. These technical violations of parole or probation account for as many as 40% of new prison admissions in some jurisdictions.” – page 6

PROHIBITION IS A DIRECT THREAT TO PUBLIC SAFETY:

“The “war on drugs” has also generated indirect costs that many researchers contend have undermined public safety. The federal government has prioritized spending and grants for drug task forces and widespread drug interdiction efforts that often target low-level drug dealing. These highly organized and coordinated efforts have been very labor intensive for local law enforcement agencies with some unanticipated consequences for investigation of other crimes. The focus on drugs is believed to have redirected law enforcement resources that have resulted in more drunk driving, and decreased investigation and enforcement of violent crime laws. In Illinois, a 47% increase in drug arrests corresponded with a 22% decrease in arrests for drunk driving. Florida researchers have similarly linked the focus on low level drug arrests with an increase in the serious crime index.”

—Drug Policy, Criminal Justice and Mass Imprisonment, by Bryan Stevenson

http://www.globalcommissionondrugs.org/Arquivos/Global_Com_Bryan_Stevenson.pdf

Assert your 10th amendment rights, Colorado. Vote YES on Amendment 64.

U.S. Marijuana Party on Vermont ballot!!!
Please tell your friends in Vermont
to Vote for Cris Ericson,
United States Marijuana Party
http://usmjp.com
USMJP.com
Thank you!

Remember, incumbent U.S. Senator
Bernie Sanders is OPPOSED
to marijuana legalization,
while Cris Ericson is 100%
in favor of making marijuana legal!