Up In Smoke?
Exhibit A in support of the proposition that politics does indeed make for strange bedfellows: Reps. Ron Paul and Barney Frank are set to join forces to introduce a bill that would have marijuana laws be set at the state, not federal level. This from the L.A. Times:
The goal of the bill, HR 2306, is not to legalize marijuana but to remove it from the list of federally controlled substances while allowing states to decide how they will regulate it.
“I do not advocate urging people to smoke marijuana. Neither do I urge them to drink alcoholic beverages or smoke tobacco,” said Frank (D-Mass.). “But in none of these cases do I think prohibition enforced by criminal sanctions is good public policy.
“Criminally prosecuting adults for making the choice to smoke marijuana is a waste of law enforcement resources and an intrusion on personal freedom,” he added.
How far the Paul/Frank coalition (and yes, I’ll confess, typing those words I got a little queasy) will get, though, is up for debate. Early indications – not far.
The bill appears doomed on arrival, according to the Associated Press, which reported that House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith said his panel, which the proposed law is required to venture through, would not even consider it.
“Marijuana use and distribution is prohibited under federal law because it has a high potential for abuse and does not have an accepted medical use in the U.S.,” said Smith, who like Paul is a Texas Republican. “The Food and Drug Administration has not approved smoked marijuana for any condition or disease.”
Smith cited the theory that pot is a gateway drug, and then added the curious belief that legalizing weed would increase the coffers of drug lords.
Curious, indeed, and in more ways than one.
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