You can't call it a fringe idea when heads of state are bringing it up. Following Mexican President Felipe Calderon's call for a debate about legalizing drugs, his predecessor Vicente Fox is going a step further and calling for outright legalization.
Sometimes I get so frustrated at the way the governments,federal and provincial(state in US)are poking their noses into every thing we do and say.We live in a world that is increasingly more contro
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MAY 28, 2010
Mayor Rybak, Letâs Be Honest About Marijuana
Marijuanaâs Prohibitionâand the Elected Officials Who Support ItâIs to Blame For Fueling Gang Violence, Not Marijuanaâs Consumers
CONTACT: Mike Meno, MPP director of communications â¦â¦â¦â¦â¦ 202-905-2030 or [email protected]
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA âMinneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak has recently taken to Minnesotaâs airwaves in a misguided attempt to blame violence at the hands of criminal gangs on consumers of marijuana. âWhen you pay for marijuana, you are paying for the bullet that goes into the head of someone on the streets,â he told the Star Tribune, in one instance. But the mayorâs logic is tragically flawed. By trying to blame violence entirely on marijuanaâs consumers, Mayor Rybak is conveniently ignoring the central role in gang violence played by marijuana prohibition and the politicians who support it.
        âThe only reason criminals make their money from marijuana is because our current policies allow them to,â said Steve Fox, director of state campaigns for the Marijuana Policy Project. âLike alcohol prohibition in the last century, marijuana prohibition has helped to fuel violent crime in Minnesota and across the country. Mayor Rybak is out of touch with reality if he does not recognize that prohibitionâand any elected official who supports itâis to blame for giving criminals a virtual monopoly on marijuanaâs lucrative trade. It is unrealistic to assume we can somehow magically remove the demand for marijuana. The only true solution is to regulate marijuana, and bring its sale under the rule of law, the same way we ended the criminal violence that stemmed from alcohol prohibition.â
        Even Mayor Rybakâs own deputy police chief, Rob Allen, stated that violence in the marijuana trade is caused by its prohibition. âIt is illegal to distribute marijuana, so the people distributing marijuana are criminal syndicates that are engaged in very violent activity to protect their turf,â Allen told station KARE 11.Â
        In a recent statement about this topic on a CityPages comment thread, Mayor Rybak wrote that âitâs time we finally got honest with each other.â
        The Marijuana Policy Project couldnât agree more. âIf the mayor wants to end violence associated with marijuana, he too needs to be honest, and join the growing ranks of those calling for an end to prohibition and the failed policies that drive money into the hands of criminals, and yes, bullets into peopleâs heads,â Fox said.  Â
        With more than 124,000 members and supporters nationwide, the Marijuana Policy Project is the largest marijuana policy reform organization in the United States. MPP believes that the best way to minimize the harm associated with marijuana is to regulate marijuana in a manner similar to alcohol. For more information, please visit www.mpp.org.
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