By any objective standard, those who support marijuana prohibition are losing the war. Whether you look at polls, demographics or the advance of marijuana legalization measures across the country, those who fight prohibition are winning. This set of circumstances is causing prohibition supporters to resort more and more to wild and already-disproven claims.
Take, for example, Colorado’s 4th Judicial District Attorney, Dan May. “Marijuana is the gateway drug to homicide in our community and across our state, and people need to start recognizing that,” he said at a press conference recently after a large marijuana operation that skirted state law was allegedly uncovered in Colorado Springs.
The Southern Colorado Cannabis Council responded directly to D.A. May in a statement that read in part: “District Attorney Dan May made some very concerning comments linking cannabis use to murder. He stated that, ‘Marijuana is the gateway drug to homicide, in our community and across the state and people need to start recognizing that.’ This statement is utterly false. Study after study has shown that there is no correlation between cannabis use and violent crime. We would ask the District Attorney to retract his statement or provide proof of correlation between the two. This is an extremely dangerous statement. It is dangerous to Colorado’s fastest growing industry and it is dangerous to anyone associated with cannabis in Colorado.”
While it’s true that the illegal marijuana market sometimes leads to violence and that the inflated price of marijuana makes growing operations more likely to be targeted by thieves, these are consequences of cannabis prohibition, not any inherent violent properties associated with use of marijuana. Legal businesses don’t have to resort to violence to settle disputes since they have recourse in the justice system and they know resorting to violence would jeopardize their ability to operate in the legal cannabis industry.
With cannabis legalization comes lower prices, which will lower the profit margin and drive criminal elements out of the marijuana business. A lower value for cannabis also means that grow ops will be less valuable in the eyes of robbers.
But when you oppose cannabis legalization and see you are losing, you are more likely to resort to saying things like “marijuana is a gateway drug to homicide.” Whether you actually believe that or not, some people will. After all, why would a district attorney lie? He’s an upstanding member of the community, right?
He very well could be, but that doesn’t excuse such abject ignorance and it certainly doesn’t excuse publicly proclaiming such ignorance as if it is fact.
OH NO! Its “Reefer Madness” all over again! People like this are the CRAZY ONES!
Well smoking marijuana from 15 -27 years old I was a habitual smoker ..from 27 to 53 very occasionally I indulge.. I know more people who have done or been done much harm as far as driving even careless deaths as far as falling down a flight of stairs, drowning vehicular homicide, hit and runs alcoholic comas, in a 100 radius of my home (northeast pa) we have had about 5 that I heard about within 6 months intoxicated drivers getting on highways on the wrong side killing innocent people from head on collisions . Driving under influence of anything is something that the law should be very harsh with.. as far as the % of violence, deaths, car accidentd or suicides from marijuana users has to be very low ..im all for legalization of marijuana the laws and thc levels should even be less strict got smokers then drinker .. even prescribed benzo’s and opiates 8 out of 10 turn into abusing and cause more impairment then smokers in every way shape or form. the epidemic of opiates has increased double and triple each year, the demand for opiates is so high and availability scarce . For people who don’t know the withdrawal is just like a heroine user (dope sick) and it is a very serious and physical detox not a mental addiction like cocaine.. a drug is a drug ..anything taken excessively that is mood altering but by far marijuana smokers have smaller percent on all the cons of all..and addiction of any kind goes hand in hand with mental issues.. marijuana should be legal everywhere ..alcohol is the biggest legal profit .. I know one fact that I’ll debate to the bitter end alcohol and pill takers which with rx are legal are the top contributes to death innocent people and the users..you can be turned down for employment for marijuana and not alcohol or prescription narcotic which are a higher % of crime of any kind as well as death of users or impaired users killing innocent.