Do you get high? If so, you have a lot of company. Although no country has yet legalized marijuana, almost half of the world’s 147 nations have, to some extent, decriminalized it. In the United States, according to an April 2009 Zogby poll, 52 percent of the population now favors legalization—the largest percentage ever.
Despite marijuana’s growing acceptance, most of our elected officials are still reluctant to advocate for the cause. As Rick Doblin, President of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS)—a nonprofit that has advocated on behalf of medical marijuana since the 80s—points out: “Most politicians still won’t come out in favor of medical marijuana because they don’t want to appear pro-legalization. And they’re afraid of appearing pro-legalization, because they’re scared of being accused of wanting to give drugs to children.”
And it’s unlikely things will change anytime soon. Pot’s continued criminalization has been championed, sometimes overtly, often covertly, by powerful groups—among them law enforcement agencies, the alcohol and tobacco industries, pharmaceutical companies and the prison-industrial complex—who have repeatedly shaped laws and public opinion to reflect their views.
So weed remains a crime, albeit a very popular one.
The full text of the article is available at http://www.trutv.com/conspiracy/in-the-shadows/pot-illegal/growing-pot-arrests.html.
Despite the ever-growing number of marijuana users–for both medical and recreational purposes–there are still many groups who have a vested interest in keeping marijuana illegal. Their rationales for maintaining prohibition are built on a teetering foundation of deep-seated biases, circular reasoning, and profit motives. This article pulls no punches, and includes commentary from MAPS Founder and Executive Director Rick Doblin, Ph.D.
