Marijuana Use By The Numbers

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has once again released their annual survey on "drug use and health" -- you know, the one where representatives of the federal government go door-to-door and ask Americans if they are presently breaking state and federal law by using illicit drugs. The same survey where respondents have historically under reported their usage of alcohol and tobacco -- these two legal substances -- by as much as 30 to 50 percent, and arguably under report their use of illicit substances by an even greater margin. The same survey that -- despite these inherent limitations -- "is the primary source of statistical information on the use of illegal drugs by the U.S. population." Yeah, that one.

So what does the government's latest round of 'statistical (though highly questionable) information' tell us? Nothing we didn't already know.

Despite 70+ years of criminal prohibition, marijuana still remains widely popular among Americans, with over 102 million Americans (41 percent of the U.S. population) having used it during their lifetimes, 26 million (10 percent) having used it in the past year, and over 15 million (6 percent) admitting that they use it regularly. (By contrast, fewer than 15 percent of adults have ever tried cocaine, the second most 'popular' illicit drug, and fewer than 2 percent have ever tried heroin -- so much for that supposed 'gateway effect.') Predictably, all of the 2008 marijuana use figures are higher than those that were reported for the previous year -- great work John Walters!

Equally predictably, the government's long-standing prohibition and anti-pot 'scare' campaigns have done little, if anything, to dissuade young people from trying it. According to the survey, 15 percent of those age 14 to 15 have tried pot (including 12 percent in the past year), as have 31 percent of those age 16 to 17 (a quarter of which have done so in the past year) -- percentages that make marijuana virtually as popular as alcohol among these age groups. By age 20, 45 percent of adolescents have tried pot, and nearly a third of those age 18 to 20 have done so in the past year. And by age 25, 54 percent of the population has admittedly used marijuana.

Question: Does anyone still believe that marijuana prohibition is working -- or that all of these people deserve to be behind bars?

For too long, advocates of prohibition have framed their arguments on the false assumption that the continued enforcement of said laws "protects our children." As the numbers above illustrate, this premise is nonsense. In fact, just the opposite is true.

The government's war on cannabis and cannabis consumers endangers the health and safety of our children. It enables young people to have unregulated access to marijuana -- easier access than they presently have to alcohol. It enables young people to interact and befriend pushers of other illegal, more dangerous drugs. It compels young people to dismiss the educational messages they receive pertaining to the potential health risks posed by the use of "hard drugs" and prescription pharmaceuticals, because kids say, "If they lied to me about pot, why wouldn't they be lying to me about everything else, too?"

Most importantly, the criminal laws are far more likely to result in having our children arrested, placed behind bars, and stigmatized with a lifelong criminal record than they are likely to in any way discourage them to try pot.

In short, what the results from the 2008 National Survey on Drug Use and Health is simple and consistent; in fact, we say it all the time: "Remember prohibition? It still doesn't work!"

Comments

[worldlyhick]

We need an organized effort geared toward election time to support those lawmakers who have shown themselves open to rational thinking (legalization) about cannabis.

I guess even small donations could help candidates who have shown that they have the integrity to be pro-cannabis reform. Integrity and analytical thinking abilities are apparently not qualities that make it easy to get by in most political bodies, or anywhere else, for that matter.

Groupthink is and has been the order of the day since our species developed a neuron.

These articles and posts always make me have hope for us all. Thank you, Reformers.

[yliza]

Once again, this is all about big business. Hemp vs. nylon, and the prison-industrial complex.

[stompedonmyrights]

The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals has held that a public official does not have immunity simply because he operates in a discretionary manner. It indicated that the public servants are to be held liable when they abused their discretion or acted in a way that was arbitrary, fanciful, or clearly unreasonable. Littleton v. Berling, 1972, CA 7 Ill., 468 F2d 386. (Civil Law)

“The due process clause of the Fifth Amendment guarantees to each citizen the equal protection of the laws and prohibits a denial thereof by any federal official.” Bolling v. Sharpe, 327 U.S. 497

So will we sit around another 70 years and let 500,000 of our citizens run through the system as if they were criminals? Will you only fights in Court when they Government unlawfully attacks you or your family? Time to fill the Highest Court in the land with a Class Action WRIT of Special Circumstances. Time to put hell back in Hell.

[stompedonmyrights]

“ The Constitution is a written instrument, as such, its meaning does not alter. That which it meant when it was adopted, it means now.” South Carolina v. United States, 199 U.S. 437, 448 (1905)

“To disregard such a deliberate choice of words and their natural meaning, would be a departure from the first principle of constitutional interpretation.”

AND

“Every word must have its due force and appropriate meaning; for it is evident from the whole instrument, that, no word was unnecessarily used, or needlessly added.” Chief Justice Taney in Holmes v. Jennison, 14 U.S. 540, 570-1
“ Every word appears to have been weighted with the utmost deliberation and its effect to have been fully understood.” Wright v. United States, 302 U.S. 583 (1938)

[stompedonmyrights]

“All laws which are repugnant to the constitution are null and void.” Chief Justice Marshall in Marbury v. Madison, 5 U.S. 137, 174, 176 (1803)
“If the legislator clearly misinterprets a constitutional provision, the frequent repetition of the wrong will not create a right.” Amos v. Mosley, 74 Fla. 555; 77 So. 619. (Congress)
“Where rights are secured by the Constitution are involved, there can be no rule making or legislation which would abrogate them.” Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 491.

[stompedonmyrights]

Our Federal and State Congresses in the above named sessions have acted upon the U.S. constitutional provision involving the American citizen’s natural inalienable rights and have unlawfully abrogated those natural unalienable god given rights of the United States citizen population based solely on fraudulent congressional witness testimonies, fraudulently created media ads, and grossly misquoted medical and legal data, of which is still pervasive in the minds of the American citizen population. There is however an over whelming, and ever growing pile of world wide scientific data that demonstrate the very opposite of this fraudulent misinformation act perpetrated on our society and the United States Congress. Our U.S. Congress therefore lack it’s constitutional privilege to abrogate the cannabis plant from those who were given dominion over God’s plants & creatures and all laws created from these fraudulent act of misguided legislation should be ruled by the highest court in the land as null and void because they are repugnant to the United States Constitution.

[stompedonmyrights]

Furthermore, the United States legislative actions known as the Harrison Narcotics Act of the 63rd legislative session, the Marihuana Tax Act of the 75th legislative session, and the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of the 91st legislative session and all those sub-action therein, which all seek to / and abrogate the natural rights of the people in regards to the cannabis plant is based at best on fanciful propaganda lacking any and all real legal scientific evident that demonstrated a negative impact on society by the use of the cannabis plant which would adversely effect the safety and welfare of the America.

[stompedonmyrights]

Therefore lacking any real evident that cannabis is a safety issue to the health and welfare of the American Society or the individual Congress did not, can not, have the privilege granted by the people in their United States Constitution to write such legislation that would abrogate the American people from their natural God given rights to use the cannabis planet for traditional medicine, food supplement, alternative fuel source, clothing, wood-like replacement, the making of paper, and or for the peoples’ ancient religious ceremonial practices which are clearly protected for all time by the founding fathers’ first ten amendments of the United States Constitution also know as the Bill of Rights

[stompedonmyrights]

The United States legislative branch, sitting past & present, lacked / lack the constitutional privilege granted to them by the United States Constitution and it’s people in which to abrogate the natural rights secured by the citizens in same said U.S. Constitution unless the U.S. legislative branch of government has reviewed evidence and held fair hearings that shows that our national safety of health and or welfare would be negatively compromised should the people’s natural right continue.
It is only upon the reasonable presentation of real scientific evidence which presents a valid social and or individual harms upon the American society does Congress have the responsibility to the nation’s health and welfare to use it’s privilege of abrogations to secure said health and welfare of the Nation. But no United States legislative body has the privilege to abrogate the natural rights secured in the United States Constitution based on fanciful distorted conjecture and misinformation. No where in the people’s founding contact with their government does it allow deception and misinformation as bases for granting the U.S. Congress with the privilege of abrogation and or the outlawing of the inalienable rights of the American people.

[PrometheanSalvation]

How will we ever control people if they are free to experience other ways of thinking?

[moldy]

Good thought!

[Aron Ranen]

Please take a moment to check out my new LSD Documentary film.
POWER AND CONTROL :LSD IN THE 60's

Features the CIA LSD Brothel in San Francisco (MK ULTRA), Groucho Marx's LSD Trip....Doc Ellis pitches his no-hitter while high.

Tim Leary's Miricle of Good friday Experiment is explored with one of the original PREACHERS who took part.

LSD and the Protest Movement, JFK & LSD plus more.

All posted for free at this youtube link..please share this knowledge.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZdz0G4lG6k&feature=channel_page

[T Specter]

LEGALIZE!

[pons1595]

30% of our health care costs are caused by alcohol and tobacco; 35% of Medicare costs are caused by these 2 legal drugs. Further discussion of legalizing marijuana is redundant and silly. We all know why taxing these other 2 deadly drugs into submission "ain't" happening. It is ridiculous to have to sit by and hear the bulls*i* of supposedly educated adults argue about health care, etc. The white man is insane! Koyaanisqatsi! Look it up.

I am 66 years old and have smoked grass since 1965 [Vietnam era]; it never made we want to try any other drug. I only regret that I had to "smoke" it.

Legalize it, regulate it; enjoy it!

[beautyontheinside]

that is such a fantastic film...I highly recommend it while imbibing in substances other than alcohol.

[Brinna]

By any measure, dismantling the festering 70 year old War on Drugs should be a top priority on the progressive agenda.



Our 'Prisons for Profit' system feeds upon it. Law Enforcement's addiction to seizure and forfeiture funding skews their priorities. In practice minorities suffer disproportionately from arrest and harassment. We export terrible violence to drug producer states such as Mexico, Columbia and Afghanistan. 



"Thought control" restricts scientific research on cannabis, and censors true, equal-handed debate on the subject in mainstream media. 



Political prisoners abound: 



Consider Canadian cannabis activist Mark Emery's who faces 5 years in US prison for legally selling cannabis seeds from Canada. Or the sad case of California medical cannabis dispensary owner Charles C. Lynch, who played by all the state rules, and was brought down by the DEA, and a local sheriff with an anti-pot agenda; convicted in Federal court, gagged from supplying evidence that it was medical cannabis, not a drug-running operation. Awaiting appeal, he's bankrupt and faces immediate foreclosure on his home.


Medical cannabis, an inexpensive people's medicine if there ever was one, one you can grow in your own backyard, is actively attacked by our own government, which hypocritcally filed for patent #6,630,507 based on the medicinal properties of cannabis and is offering it for licensing.



Actually, it should be a huge conservative priority too – talk about "big government out of control" and "irresponsible waste of resources."

I shake my head in wonder.

[Torrentlover]

Brinna, I could not believe the patent so I looked it up and, to my disbelief, your absolutely right:

http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=6630507.PN.&OS=PN/6630507&RS=PN/6630507

This is disgusting.

[porsche996]

In light of the fact that the overwhelming majority of people will not tell the truth to their health care providers about their marijuana use, prescription drug use, OR alcohol use, these numbers are amazing in what they reveal.

Physicians are taught to nearly disregard completely a patients substance abuse history elicited from the first interview. It just cannot be believed but it often times surprising and revealing how honest patients will be on subsequent visits to the same practitioner. The story changes, a lot!

If these numbers are considered shady by a half, you've got 75% of Americans that have used marijuana, and more than 50% using it now.

Legalize it!