Roger ChesleyPolice chiefs don't make the law. They're not supposed to ignore some at the expense of others. They have to enforce them all.
So I was prepared for Chesapeake police Chief Kelvin Wright's answer, following the slaying of a second local officer this year in a marijuana-related altercation, to this question: Should police expend so much energy on recovering small amounts of pot, given the potential dangers to the men and women in blue?
"It's still illegal," Wright told me this week. Police try to carry out drug raids and undercover drug buys in ways that keep officers safe. But, he added, "There's no amount of drugs that is worth an officer's life."
The past few months have exacted a grim toll on officers in the region. Last week, Virginia Beach Detective Michael S. Phillips was gunned down making an undercover buy of a half-pound of marijuana. Two men have been charged in the shooting. In January, Chesapeake Detective Jarrod Shivers was killed executing a warrant at the home of a suspected marijuana grower. Only a scant amount of pot was recovered. A man faces murder and other charges.
After these deaths, a sometimes-dormant debate will arise once again. Are America's marijuana drug laws causing more harm than good? Should federal and state lawmakers make pot legal? And why is cannabis treated so differently from alcohol? After all, Prohibition's 13-year run was a terrible failure before its repeal in 1933.
Answers don't come easily. From the office of the nation's drug czar to organizations supporting marijuana's legalization, from police to academics, persuasive arguments can be had on both sides. Legalization of pot might lead to increased use, less productive citizens, greater rehabilitation costs and a further fraying of families and neighborhoods.
On the other hand, it could lead to stricter regulation, taxes on sales and fewer people behind bars. Police and the courts could focus on harder drugs, such as cocaine and heroin and methamphetamine.
I don't know where I come down on the issue. I've never used marijuana - some will scoff, but it's true - and my wife and I have drilled it into our children to stay away from all drugs and alcohol.
That said, current policies aren't working. They're hypocritical, expensive and clog our court system. Though it might be political suicide, lawmakers should consider legalizing marijuana for personal use.
Allen St. Pierre, executive director of the Washington-based National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, will gladly bend your ear about the benefits of decriminalizing marijuana. Twelve states, including North Carolina, have already done so. They made small amounts a civil - rather than criminal - violation.
"Cannabis, despite its illegality, is amazingly popular in this country," he told me in a phone interview Thursday. "It's the safest therapeutic substance known to man."
It's also the most commonly used illicit drug in the United States, according to federal officials. A 2006 survey estimated that nearly 98 million Americans ages 12 and older have tried marijuana at least once, or about 40 percent of the population in that age group.
St. Pierre acknowledges that the drug is not totally harmless. But compared to other illegal drugs, "cannabis has no peer in its lack of toxicity.... It borders on being benign."
Don't buy into that argument, says Tom Riley, spokesman for the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. "Marijuana is a huge part of the addiction puzzle," Riley said Thursday. Given the number of deaths and health problems attributable to alcohol and cigarettes - legal substances - the country doesn't need another one, he contends.
"The consequences to society of more addictive drugs would be a higher cost," Riley added, including more addiction, impairment and mental health problems. But Riley couldn't answer why it's OK to keep cigarettes and beer legal while marijuana is taboo.
Meanwhile, Virginia Beach Chief Jake Jacocks, who buried an officer this week, tries to avoid the politics of the issue. But Jacocks wonders: "If it's OK to legalize marijuana, what's next? Will there be a push to legalize cocaine? Or all drugs and narcotics?
"I don't think the country is ready for that, and I don't think it ever will be."
The debate should continue, on the local and national level. It's tragic that it took the deaths of two officers to reignite the discussion.
Roger Chesley is associate editor of The Pilot's editorial page. Reach him at (757) 446-2329 or at roger.chesley@pilotonline.com.
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I'll bet you can count on
I'll bet you can count on one hand how many "white lightning" stills have been busted by the feds in the last few years. Once the 1700 percent profit is removed from a product (except maybe gasoline) then crime stastically goes down or away.
From a freedom stand point, it shouldn't be up to men in black robes that decide what substances a legal aged adult should be able to introduce to his or her body. Whether it be blood pressure medicine from Canada, unconventional cancer treatment, or a greasy philly cheese steak. As long as another individuals rights are not infringed (such as driving while high or operating machinery at ones employment.), then it should be of no consequence. If government was that concerned about a persons health, then we would have the cheeseburger police where you would be limited to so much fat and cholesterol per week as not to be a burden on society if you have a heart attack and no insurance.
I think prohibition in general should be abandoned, but...
drugs like heroin and cocaine should remain illegal. I don't think MJ is a big deal unless you are doing it at work, or driving a car. If you work with machinery, build homes or bridges, or drive, the no smoking the reefer. Of course, the DUI laws are so crazy, I have no doubt this would get complicated as well, but it would still be better than people killing each other over pot. The heroin and crack dealers would still rob and kill over the other stuff, but that poison is MUCH different than weed.
IT'S AN ABSOLUTE DISGRACE:
And who is paying for this misguided drug policy? We have a economic stranglehold over nations that PRODUCE these drugs. Yet, we don’t exert any leverage. Why? Our government is complicit, by our inaction, in stemming the tide of drugs at it source. Wasting precious lives on ghetto streets and hopeless people is not the answer.
It Doesn't Offend
I have discovered that when discussing anything with born again Christians they tend to believe that all authority comes from God. I just wanted to make sure that you knew that I don't feel that way. I am moving on.
Wayne H.
Of course we don't *need* to give each other permission to disagree. "Agree to disagree" is just one of those civilized statements people use instead of threatening to rip each other's heads off over the fact that we are not all identical clones in the way we think! I rather like the statement--sorry if it offends you. Cheers, MGM
failed policy
Legalizing drugs would likely lead to increased consumption, which would be a bad thing. It is a mistake to proceed from that assumption, however, to conclude that drugs should remain illegal, as there are a number of things that inevitably accompany prohibition of a substance for which there is high demand. These include the criminal gangs, violence, and corruption which can be found throughout the US. Those who argue, as Kerry Dougherty did in her piece on Sunday, that violence would continue even if drugs were legalized miss the point - there would be much less of it. If the robbery racket on its own, for example, were as remunerative for criminals as drugs then criminals would derive far more of their revenue from robbery than they do today. This is why Al Capone must have been the biggest fan of prohibition in his day - it gave him a much more profitable criminal arena in which to work. Said
Just Remember Mary
The U.S. Constitution gives me the right to dissent. I don't need permission to disagree.
Wayne . . .
We digress . . . the post before mine asked people who never tried MJ what gets them through the day. I wasn't popping in there with a gospel tract--someone asked a question.
I happen to agree with Paul about homosexuality. Check out I Corinthians 7 where he listed it as a sin, yes, but a sin that had been practiced *in the past* by members of his congregation. He was writing a love letter to that Corinthian congregation, so I hardly think he was homophobic towards people who had previously engaged in same sex relations.
I believe this is a point on which we will agree to disagree. But you asked whether I knew and I thought I should answer your question, too. Cheers, MGM
My study of secular humanism
My study of secular humanism gets me through the day. That and a good glass of wine. I prefer Whtiman and Thoureau to Peter and Paul. Did you know that Paul was homophobic? Anyway, "whatever gets you through your life." (John Lennon) Marijuana should be legalized and regulated the same way that alcohol is. I find it peculiar that anyone would bring religion into a discussion about drugs other than Karl Marx... "religion is the opiate of society." So, are you saying that the father of socialism was correct?
j2d4
No mind-altering substances whatsoever, other than a few incidents of excessive alcohol in my 20's. I decided not to do that anymore and now am a teetotaler. I know a lot of people like me. What gets us through the day? Usually, for many of these folks, a faith in Jesus Christ. Cheers, MGM
Missing The Point
Excuse me........but all of 'you' that SAY you havent tried Mary-Jane.........what HAVE you tried? Do you pop a Valium or Oxy-contin when things get rough ?
Do you have psycho-tropic drugs for those days when your 'down'?
IMHO, the ABUSE of Prescription Drugs is a far more dangerous thing because, basically, its Under The Radar. I can hear the hue and cry in Congress IF we TRY and take all of ' Mothers Lil Helpers '.............
But when we get down to it, its a $$$ thing. For any Government to survive, there HAS to be SOMETHING a large % of the population 'does' thats Illegal. This way the Coffers Stay Full.............and our Prisons, which are RUN by 3'rd party Interests w/ an eye on the Profit Margin, become another Business Venture.........NOT an Institution for Educating Prisoners to become functioning members of society upon their release.
The System Is Broke.
Got it wrong
It is very difficult for me to understand how Mr. Chelsey is trying to equate the killing of Detective Phillips as a terrible loss in the "drug war". It is very clear to me that it had nothing whatsoever to do with drugs and everything to do with greed and money. It also has to do with very bad people. Detective Phillips was set up to be robbed. That is very clear to me since one of the suspects was going thru his pockets trying to get his money as he lay dying. We need to get beyond this "drug war' mindset and realize what is really going on. Bad people doing bad things. I believe if Detective Phillips was there to buy stolen property the outcome would have been the same. It seems to me we are always looking for some excuse as to why something so terrible could happen. The bottom line is clear. Some human beings are very bad, no matter the reasoning. We have always had them as I really don't see a change in the near
Dr. Tabor and Mr. Markowitz
These two writers should be hired to replace Kerry Dog. Smarter more entertaining and much better writers. Dump the Dog. I look forward to their posts.
Considering What Works and What Doesn't
It's happening again, I'm agreeing with Tabor, which is a scary thing. Through much of our national history drugs like laudanum, paregoric, cocaine and marijuana were legal and did not cause the problems we see today. Even addiction to opiates, though not advisable, is not especially harmful to health when regulated. The danger is the illegality and the toxicity of an unregulated and often tainted product. In the case of marijuana, the legal status has proved to be far more dangerous than the product itself. While the goal of a drug free society is laudable, the approach of criminalization of users has proved to be a failure. We would do better financially and in real effect by focusing on education and rehab and by the legal availability and safe regulation drugs using the taxes to support the anti-drug education as we are doing effectively with tobacco.
The Economic Argument for Legalization
Like Mr. Chesley, I have never used marijuana, nor any other illegal drug. I think anyone who throws away the blessing of a clear mind is a fool.
But consider: In the 1920's, heroin and cocaine could be bought at the local pharmacy without a prescription. There were no gangs of pharmacists killing each other for control of a street corner. Our jails were not filled with pharmacists. Pharmacists were not shooting policemen, nor were they giving samples of those drugs to school children to create customers. Those sorts of things were happening, but that was over alcohol, which was illegal,and not over the much worse, but legal, drugs.
Increasing the risk of selling what people want automatically increases the profit margin. The higher the profit, the more intense the effort to deliver the product becomes. Every dealer we catch raises the stakes for the next one, and with profit margins in th