This HuffPost Canada page is maintained as part of an online archive.

The Callousness of Marijuana Prohibition

I have met family men and women who smoke marijuana after a hard day of work. They hang out with their kids, put them to bed, and smoke a joint. Should these men and women be put in jail for choosing to inhale a substance that is safer than alcohol? The answer is no.
This post was published on the now-closed HuffPost Contributor platform. Contributors control their own work and posted freely to our site. If you need to flag this entry as abusive, send us an email.

It is a video most marijuana advocates have seen. During the 2008 Republican campaign for President, a wheelchair bound man approached Mitt Romney and asked, "...will you arrest me and my doctors if I get medical marijuana?" Romney's response and reaction showed how disgusting of a man he is. After he avoided Clayton Holton's question by saying he doesn't support medicinal marijuana, the coward walked away.

Holton suffers for a deadly form of Muscular Dystrophy. At the time of the exchange he weighed 80 lbs. When Holton told Romney that synthetic marijuana made him sick, Romney walked away. Romney's attitude towards marijuana is indicative of many who are against the legalization of marijuana.

Even if marijuana was legalized solely for medicinal purposes, those against marijuana legalization would rather let people die than legalize the only medicine that helps them.

As of this writing, Norman Smith is still alive, but he may not live much longer. Smith was on a liver transplant list due to his un-operable liver cancer. He surprised his doctors by the success he had with his treatments. But administrators at Cedar-Sinai hospital removed him from the transplant list because he made the mistake of taking doctor prescribed marijuana.

In response to the anger by advocates, critical of the hospital, hospital employee Peggy Stewart casually and rudely responded by saying, "Marijuana is considered substance abuse. The legality of it is really not an issue."

Countless studies and personal tales have concluded that marijuana helps the appetite of cancer or AIDS patients, treats glaucoma, as well as PTSD. All of those studies and personal tales have been ignored by prohibitionists who are fighting against science, truth, and the sick people who need marijuana.

But the callousness of their campaigning and heartless actions doesn't stop there.

In January 2012 Irv Hoffman, and his ex-wife Margie Wiess were awarded $2.4 million by the city of Tallahassee over the death of their daughter Rachel Hoffman who," ...was a bit of a hippie-ish free spirit," and who "shared and sold small amounts of marijuana and MDMA within her social circle." Hoffman, who was previously arrested by Tallahassee police, was the product of a search. Along with some Valium and ecstasy, police found a quarter pound of marijuana. Faced with four years of jail, Tallahassee Police forced her to make a drug deal with two men she had never met.

In a 2009 interview with ABC's 20/20, Tallahassee Police Chief Dennis Jones casually admitted, "We don't provide training for CI's (confidential informants), we provide instruction, but no training."

Hoffman shared and sold marijuana occasionally to her circle of friends. She was no big time drug dealer, and had no idea what was going on.

After following the dealers away from the original point of transaction, police lost track of Hoffman, who was murdered.

Chief Jones blamed Hoffman for her demise by saying in the ABC interview, "The plan we had was deviated from- and unfortunately Rachel decided to deviate from that plan, and not meet at the predetermined location."

Hoffman was another victim in the insane steps law enforcement to stop marijuana users from accessing a drug that has not directly killed a single soul.

The insanity doesn't stop there.

Patricia Spottedcrow, a first time offender, was sentenced to 12 years in jail for selling $31 worth of marijuana. The mother of four had her sentence reduced to four years after conviction. She was paroled, then had the parole revoked, and returned to the Dr. Eddie Warrior Correctional Center in Taft, Oklahoma. In two years, Spottedcrow has seen her four children two times, because she comes from a low income family that can't afford to make constant trips to the prison. Spottedcrow said, "The first year I cried every single night. I couldn't take it. I didn't know what I was going to do. I felt like it was the end of the world,"

Marijuana convictions can prevent the access of food stamps, getting loans for school, or certain certificates for professional employment. With people getting tossed in jail for small amounts of weed, that one joint can unjustifiably send you to the poor house for the rest of your life.

Patricia Spottedcrow should be at home raising her kids, Norman Smith should have a new liver, and Rachel Hoffmann should still be alive. But marijuana prohibition advocates get a kick out of breaking apart families.

In a National Post story, the wife of Marc Emery, Jodie, made a fantastic point in regards to the social and financial costs of jailing a marijuana user: "When those people are imprisoned, they often leave behind children, siblings, parents and friends who suffer in their absence. While that person is in jail -- costing taxpayers over $100,000 per year," Emery added, "their family members have to deal with the financial cost of hiring lawyers, going to court and losing a breadwinner. Their children lose the full parental guidance and support needed for a proper upbringing."

In Stephen Harper's Canada, "cannabis arrests jumped 13 per cent in 2010 to 75,126. Of those, almost 57,000 were for simple possession." I have met family men and women who smoke marijuana after a hard day of work. They hang out with their kids, put them to bed, and smoke a joint. Should these men and women be put in jail for choosing to inhale a substance that is safer than alcohol? The answer is no.

Barack Obama has shut down dispensaries at a higher rate than his predecessor, which denies sick people the medicine they need. Prohibitionists are letting people die, and are ripping apart families, all because they are ignoring science, and facts. Prohibitionists love to see people die, or go to jail, no matter the costs. They have violated the constitution in order to search for drugs, and have killed family pets. For the prohibitionist, non-violent marijuana consumers are the scourge of the earth, and no decency is needed when you callously ruin, or end lives.

Close
This HuffPost Canada page is maintained as part of an online archive. If you have questions or concerns, please check our FAQ or contact support@huffpost.com.