[Mpls] Stop blaming marijuana for violence

[Pulse of the Twin Cities]

double oops list!  this was NOT meant to be posted to the public!  Sorry 
all!

Aaron Neumann
Sheridan

"To err is human"

Aaron Neumann wrote:

> oops!  sent from the wrong email addy.  please reply to 
> aaron at pulsetc.com (if need be).  thanks!
>
> Pulse of the Twin Cities wrote:
>
>> Jason,
>>
>> I, too, was dismayed at the mayor's short-sighted comments.  I also 
>> understand the communities' frustration with gangs  - and the drug 
>> trade that often fuels that trade (all the more reason for ending 
>> prohibition and regulating the market!).  You and I, among many 
>> others across political ideologies on the list, are on the same page.
>>
>> As you may know, I am running for the Green Party endorsement and 
>> sequentially the Ward 3 City Council seat.  This effort in part a 
>> grassroots effort and part educational effort. In that spirit, our 
>> campaign is organizing a series of community issue forums, one of 
>> which will be about the War On Drugs.
>>
>> Whatever our differences in the past - and I am requesting that we 
>> leave them there where they belong - this is an opportunity to 
>> present a real alternative, policy wise and on a municipal level, to 
>> our current policies and attitude ("bullet in the head of child" 
>> mayoral comment).
>> My questions to you:
>>
>> Would you and Aaron Marcus be interested in helping shape a policy 
>> alternative (and would you be willing to contact Aaron as his cell # 
>> no longer connects to him) in the name of COHR - if COHR is still 
>> active?
>>
>> Would you an Aaron Marcus be open to coordinating/participating in 
>> this particular forum.  So far I have Tom Gallagher and Mark Berkson 
>> on board, looking for possibly Bishke, Keith Ellison, Marcus, and 
>> someone from the policing community (Boaza is in the short list).  
>> The forum will most likely take place on the Northside 
>> (park.community building).
>>
>> And could you either forward this to Aaron Marcus or let me know his 
>> new contact info as to speak with him directly on this matter.
>>
>> Thanks for your consideration.  Only when we work together are we 
>> able to affect social and political change positively.
>>
>> Aaron
>>
>>
>> Jason Samuels wrote:
>>
>>> Dennis Plante Writes:
>>>
>>> And you should be alarmed.  There is a very direct connection 
>>> between buying
>>>
>>> pot and many of the deaths of young, african american males on the 
>>> northside.  What exactly do you think most of the gunshots fired on 
>>> the northside are about?  And where do you think the money comes 
>>> from to purchase the guns?
>>>
>>> Jason Samuels Responds:
>>>
>>> If a regulated adult market existed for marijuana, criminals wouldn't
>>> profit. And if prohibition worked, it wouldn't be easy to get. But 
>>> then it's
>>> a lot easier to blame crime and death on "drugs" than on deep-rooted
>>> inequalities, isn't it?
>>>
>>>
>>> DP: You admit that buying marijuana suppoirts gang violence, yet it 
>>> appears
>>> that you accept the loss of life associated with this endeavor as 
>>> acceptable
>>>
>>> collateral damage.
>>>
>>> JS: Absolutely not! I am protesting the fact that violent gangs 
>>> control a
>>> segment of the marijuana market, and pointing out that there are
>>> alternatives.
>>>
>>>
>>> DP: Well, if "bad" people are attracted to illegal activity, then 
>>> why does
>>> such a large percentage of our population continue to purchase 
>>> illegal drugs
>>> like pot?
>>>
>>> JS: Because people always have. It has to do with the pursuit of 
>>> pleasure,
>>> and it doesn't necessarily make a person "bad." Here is a good 
>>> article on
>>> the underlying chemistry:
>>> http://www.pbs.org/wnet/closetohome/science/html/whydrugs.html
>>>
>>> The bad people are the ones who harm their communities exploiting this.
>>>
>>> DP: Is it possible that there is a deeper social issue connected 
>>> with what
>>> Mayor Rybak was trying to get across in his statement?
>>>
>>> JS: It is possible that Mayor Rybak was trying to connect with the 
>>> knee-jerk
>>> support that many politicians have come to expect from tough talk on 
>>> drugs.
>>> The sound bite made it sound like the Mayor believes that marijuana 
>>> users
>>> kill children. I cannot vote for him if this truly represents his
>>> understanding of how drug policies affect our city.
>>>
>>>
>>> DP: I suggest that if you were to take into consideration that many 
>>> of the 100,000 arrests came in the form of multiple arrests for the 
>>> same individual, the actual percentage of our state population 
>>> arrested in the past decade would be MUCH LESS than the "roughly 2%" 
>>> you mention.
>>>
>>> JS: Note that I said "well over 100,000 arrests." The number has ranged
>>> between 10 and 16 thousand annually for the past decade. Without 
>>> taking the
>>> time to look up and add the numbers, it's probably closer to 
>>> 120-130,000.
>>> Out of 4.9 million people in our 2000 census, considering some multiple
>>> arrests, I would say it's probably not much less than "roughly 2%."
>>>
>>>
>>> DP: However, why is it that no state laws have been passed to 
>>> legalize the
>>> drug? JS: States are not free to liberalize drug laws without 
>>> federal reform. The
>>> Supreme Court will likely affirm that when they release their pending
>>> opinion in Raich v. Ashcroft.
>>>
>>>
>>> DP: Is it possible that the majority of people decided, after trying 
>>> it, to
>>> not support its legalization? If it is so harmless, why has the 
>>> MAJORITY
>>> chosen to not legalize it?
>>>
>>> JS: We live in a republic and not a pure democracy, so people do not 
>>> make
>>> the laws directly. The Minneapolis City Council made that very clear
>>> rejecting a medical marijuana charter amendment last summer.
>>>
>>>
>>> DP: I am not sure what you use to gauge a society which is progressive
>>> and/or successfull. And, maybe such a thing has and will continue to 
>>> allude
>>> mankind.  I however, believe that the most successfull societies 
>>> mankind has
>>> experienced were those which recognized the limitations in 
>>> themselves and
>>> were willing to set and adhere to standards of acceptable behaviour.
>>>
>>> JS: Herein lies the ethic instilled in law a century ago. Prohibitions
>>> developed as part and parcel of the Progressive movement, and as 
>>> such came
>>> amidst a wholesale re-evaluation of America's moral and legal
>>> responsibilities. I wholeheartedly agree that society needs to enforce
>>> standards, but those standards need to be reasonable and in touch with
>>> reality. Marijuana prohibition is an instance where government went 
>>> too far,
>>> and the numbers demonstrate that it is ineffective.
>>>
>>> I am not arguing that marijuana use should be encouraged, but placing a
>>> criminal stigma on it is counterproductive.
>>>
>>>
>>> Jason Samuels
>>> Whittier
>>>
>>>
>>>
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>>>
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>>>
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>>>
>>>  
>>>
>>
>
>