(NaturalNews) Snoop Dogg has been busted with marijuana possession at a west Texas border agent checkpoint. It's the same checkpoint where Willie Nelson was recently caught with marijuana. After being questioned by agents, Snoop Dogg (Calvin Broadus) readily admitted the marijuana cigarettes were his, as he has a license for medical marijuana use in California. He was cited for possession of drug paraphernalia and issued a court appearance date of January 20. (http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/09/showbiz/snoop-dogg-pot/index.html)
Once again, the very fact that this is taking place in America demonstrates the magnificent waste of time, money and law enforcement resources being flushed down the toilet in the failed "War on Drugs." Instead of going after white-collar criminals like the crooks who run Goldman Sachs (and all the other Wall Street institutions that specialize in stealing money from the masses), law enforcement resources are spent sniffing around for scraps of weed in some guy's pocket or automobile ash tray.
Marijuana, for its part, is far less harmful than alcohol, which often transforms people into raging maniacs (as anyone who has attended a college frat party can attest). Although I don't advocate anyone use pot -- and I don't use it myself -- the very fact that our nation's jails and prisons are filled with people who got caught buying, selling or smoking a little weed is a testament to the outrageous waste of taxpayer dollars and law enforcement resources that have been foolishly focused on this senseless endeavor.
Snoop Dogg no doubt has great lawyers and will probably be able to negotiate his way out of any serious charges, but a person with no ability to hire a top-dollar lawyer might very well end up serving time behind bars for the very same "crime." And once there, they become experts in criminology. That's what the prisons really offer people, you see -- not real reform but rather a master's degree in how to be a criminal. This is how our prisons actually breed criminals and multiply violent crime in America.
At the very least, deal with marijuana in "drug courts," not criminal courts
Ideally, marijuana possession should be de-criminalized to free up law enforcement resources for more important tasks (and to take the ego out of the DEA, which is a rogue government agencygang that openly violates state law).
Barring that, the next best option is to pass state laws that put marijuana possession under the jurisdiction of a drug court, not a criminal court. In fact, this idea of approaching drug possession from a health care point of view (rather than a criminal point of view) works for all street drugs: meth, heroin, cocaine, etc. Here's why:
Drug addiction is a health problem, not a criminal problem. Many people who are addicted to drugs are in no other way dangerous to society. In fact, many people addicted to cocaine, for example, are the very same lawyers, police officers, and prosecuting attorneys that put other people away for pot possession!
Drug problems needed to be treated in a "drug court" where court options include:
• Mandatory drug detox treatment. • Mandatory drug counseling. • Nutritional support programs for detox and overcoming drug addiction. • Paying of relatively small fines, similar to traffic tickets. • Regular drug testing for a limited period of time to determine compliance.
Only those who routinely decide to ignore such options should be considered "criminal" offenders in our society. Even then, the criminal justice system offers absolutely nothing that really works to constructively reform the habits of those who choose to abuse recreational drugs.
The bigger problem: Children are taught to use drugs every day on television!
Here's the bigger issue in all this: Why do we have a drug culture in America?
A significant part of the answer is because children are being put on amphetamines every day, all across America, by doctors, parents and teachers! The drugs are called Ritalin and Risperdal, and they're prescribed for a completely fictitious "medical" condition known as ADHD. This "disease" isn't real (http://www.naturalnews.com/031983_children_mental_disorders.html). Its existence is fabricated by the psychiatrist at the time of diagnosis who cites behavioral patterns such as "easily distracted" or "likes to play outside a lot." (http://www.naturalnews.com/030420_ADHD_schoolchildren.html)
These amphetamine drugs used to be sold on the street as "speed," and even today, a huge underground market of prescription Ritalin exists on college campuses.
The point is that we have a drug culture in America because parents, teachers, psychiatrists and doctors actually put children on psychotropic, mind-altering drugs! This sends a powerful message: Using drugs is okay, because all the adults do it too.
So kids grow up popping pills just like mommy and daddy. So when a friend offers them a joint, a hit of meth, or a crack pipe, it's not much of a stretch from the mind-altering drugs they've already been taking via prescription. In truth, the only difference between many prescription drugs and street drugs is only the prescription itself: the drug molecules are exactly the same!
Thanks to the FDA's legalization of television advertising of drugs in 1997, powerful mind-altering drugs continue to be advertised on television. This further reinforces the message to kids and teens that "drugs make you normal and healthy." That's what every drug ad shows, of course: A person regaining normalcy through chemical intervention. This message is not lost on the minds of our youth. They absorb it, and then they follow it.
In this way, you see, the pharmaceutical industry actually promotes recreational drug use.
So as a society, it is contradictory to promote mind-altering drugs through the television, schools and psychiatric centers while simultaneously criminalizing mind-altering drugs on the streets. The entire policy is insane and doomed to fail. If society wants kids to stay off drugs, it shouldn't allow drugs to be openly promoted through television, magazines, schools and psychiatric centers. And if society wants drug users to really reform, it shouldn't treat minor drug possession as a criminal offense that gets someone thrown in the slammer where they learn the skills of a master criminal.
Snoop Dogg's arrest simply highlights the insanity of all this yet again. I believe America is ready for marijuana to be decriminalized, at least in small amounts for personal use. Most of the evidence says that even if marijuana is decriminalized, it will not lead to an increase in use (http://norml.org/marijuana/personal/item/marijuana-decriminalization-...).
If not decriminalized, then marijuana possession should at the very least be treated in non-criminal "drug courts" that recognize substance abuse as a health problem, not a criminal behavior problem.
Finally, all drug advertising should be made illegal, including the advertising of prescription drugs. This is the source of the very dangerous message that teaches kids the false idea of "chemical intervention will solve my problems." It is that message that leads our youth to so easily get caught up with recreational drugs.
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About the author: Mike Adams is a natural health author and award-winning journalist with a strong interest in personal health, the environment and the power of nature to help us all heal He has authored and published thousands of articles, interviews, consumers guides, and books on topics like health and the environment, and he is well known as the creator of popular downloadable preparedness programs on financial collapse, emergency food storage, wilderness survival and home defense skills. Adams is a trusted, independent journalist who receives no money or promotional fees whatsoever to write about other companies' products. In 2010, Adams created TV.NaturalNews.com, a natural living video sharing site featuring thousands of user videos on foods, fitness, green living and more. He also launched an online retailer of environmentally-friendly products (BetterLifeGoods.com) and uses a portion of its profits to help fund non-profit endeavors. He's also a noted technology pioneer and founded a software company in 1993 that developed the HTML email newsletter software currently powering the NaturalNews subscriptions. Adams also serves as the executive director of the Consumer Wellness Center, a non-profit consumer protection group, and practices nature photography, Capoeira, martial arts and organic gardening. Known on the 'net as 'the Health Ranger,' Adams shares his ethics, mission statements and personal health statistics at www.HealthRanger.org
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Tuesday, January 10, 2012
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