Cannabis is the third most popular drug in America (behind only alcohol and tobacco), and has been used by nearly 100 million Americans. According to government surveys, some 25 million Americans have smoked marijuana within the past year, and more than 14 million do so regularly despite harsh laws prohibit its use. Public policy must reflect this reality.Cannabis is not harmful than alcohol or tobacco. About 50,000 people die every year due to alcohol poisoning. Similarly, more than 400,000 deaths each year due to smoking. For comparison, marijuana is nontoxic and can not cause death because of an overdose. According to the prestigious European medical journal, The Lancet, "The smoking of cannabis, even long term, is not harmful to HEALTH." Makes sense if marijuana is not as a threat than alcohol and tobacco.
NORML strongly supports the abolition of all penalties for private property and responsible use of marijuana by adults, including the cultivation for personal use, and sales. This policy, known as decriminalization, remove consumer law or the smokers of cannabis from the criminal justice system.
More than 30 percent of U.S. population lives under some form of decriminalization law, and according to the government and academic research, these laws do not contribute to increased consumption of marijuana negative effects for adolescents as well as attitudes toward drug use.
Enforcing marijuana prohibition costs taxpayers about $ 10 billion per year and the arrest of more than 847,000 people per year - far more than the number of detainees for all violent crimes combined, including murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault.
Of those charged with marijuana violations, approximately 89 percent, 754,224 was charged for possession. The remaining 93 640 persons indicted for "sales / cultivation," a category that includes all cultivation offenses, even those where the marijuana is being grown for personal or medical use. In previous years, about 30 percent of those arrested were age 19 years or younger.
Finally, NORML supports the development of a legally controlled market, where consumers could buy marijuana for personal use from a safe source of law. This policy, generally known as legalization, there are at various levels in several European countries like Holland and Switzerland, both of which enjoy a lower rate than those who used marijuana in the United States. Such a system would reduce many of the problems currently associated with marijuana prohibition, including crime, corruption and violence associated with the "black market."
NORML strongly supports the abolition of all penalties for private property and responsible use of marijuana by adults, including the cultivation for personal use, and sales. This policy, known as decriminalization, remove consumer law or the smokers of cannabis from the criminal justice system.
More than 30 percent of U.S. population lives under some form of decriminalization law, and according to the government and academic research, these laws do not contribute to increased consumption of marijuana negative effects for adolescents as well as attitudes toward drug use.
Enforcing marijuana prohibition costs taxpayers about $ 10 billion per year and the arrest of more than 847,000 people per year - far more than the number of detainees for all violent crimes combined, including murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault.
Of those charged with marijuana violations, approximately 89 percent, 754,224 was charged for possession. The remaining 93 640 persons indicted for "sales / cultivation," a category that includes all cultivation offenses, even those where the marijuana is being grown for personal or medical use. In previous years, about 30 percent of those arrested were age 19 years or younger.
Finally, NORML supports the development of a legally controlled market, where consumers could buy marijuana for personal use from a safe source of law. This policy, generally known as legalization, there are at various levels in several European countries like Holland and Switzerland, both of which enjoy a lower rate than those who used marijuana in the United States. Such a system would reduce many of the problems currently associated with marijuana prohibition, including crime, corruption and violence associated with the "black market."
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