02.20.08

Interesting letter on cannabis re-legalization

Posted in Drug laws at 6:35 pm by LeisureGuy

Thoughtful:

Suppose another country had almost no drug problem. Suppose that country had less than a small fraction of one percent of our drug arrests. And suppose that country had almost no “drug-related crime” and suppose that their robbery rate was a tiny fraction of our robbery rate.

Do you think is might be wise to carefully observe that other country’s drug policy and that we should model their drug policy?

Well, there is such a country: The Czech Republic.

The Czech Republic is the only country in the world where adult citizens can legally use, possess and grow small quantities of marijuana. (In the Netherlands, marijuana is quasi-legal — not officially legal.)

The Czech overall drug arrest rate is 1 per 100,000 population. The United States’ overall drug arrest rate is 585 per 100,000 population.

The Czech robbery rate is 2 per 100,000 population. The United States’ robbery rate is 160.2 per 100,000 population, according to our FBI.

According to our drug war cheerleaders, tolerant marijuana laws cause people to use other, much more dangerous drugs, like methamphetamine and heroin. Obviously, this doesn’t happen in the Czech Republic.

Why not?

Could it be that when people can legally obtain marijuana at an affordable price, they tend not to use or desire any other recreational drugs?

Could it be that marijuana legalization actually creates a roadblock to hard drug use - not a gateway?

Could it be that the vast majority our so-called “drug-related crime” is caused by our marijuana prohibition policies?

Could it be that if we keep doing what we have been doing, we will probably get the same results? Should we throw another trillion dollars down the drug war rat hole? Or should we do something different — dramatically different?

2 Comments »

  1. Dave said,

    21 April 2008 at 2:09 pm

    Cite your sources it doesn’t jive with wikipedia but that could be wrong:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legality_of_cannabis#Czech_Republic

  2. LeisureGuy said,

    21 April 2008 at 2:33 pm

    The source is at the link in the post. One of the commenters at the link (DudeDiligence) brings up the same Wikipedia article that you mention. A Google search on “czech republic drug laws” bring up some useful links. From this site:

    In 1993, the Czech Republic implemented a drug code legalizing the possession and use of drugs, while outlawing both drug production and distribution. Enforcement of this law became problematic, however, as it was difficult to distinguish between dealers and users. In an attempt to crack down on the growing drug industry, the Czech Parliament moved to amend the law in 1998 in order to make the possession of “more than a small amount” of drugs a criminal offense. Controversy surrounded this new code as soon as it was introduced.

    President Havel not only spoke out against the proposed amendment, but vetoed the new drug legislation in order to protest its ambiguous wording. Critics of the proposed amendment argued that it did not explicitly state what was meant by a “small amount” of drugs, nor did it distinguish between the possession of different types of drugs such as marijuana and heroin. This lack of precision in defining the amount and/or type of drugs was expected to make the enforcement of the new law arbitrary. Despite objections, however, the Czech Parliament overrode the presidential veto and the new drug law went into effect in January 1999.

    As predicted, enforcement of the Czech Republic’s new drug law has been difficult. According to Jiří Komorous, chief of the anti-drug unit of the Prague police, the lack of agreement in Parliament as to what quantity of drug possession amounts to a punishable offense has affected the ability of the police to crack down on users. Komorous said, “It caused trouble for the police, so they issued an inner rule where they defined the small amount as 0.3 grams for both heroin and marijuana.” (Smalley 2000)

    Although the police set an internal standard, their decision was not legally binding. Judges remained free to use their own discretion in deciding how much was considered a “small amount” of drugs and what type of possession should be deserving of punishment. Lack of clear legal guidelines has led to inconsistent sentencing. According to Josef Radimecký, a manager of the Czech government’s inter-ministerial Anti-Drug Commission, judges in one case handed down an eight-year sentence to a marijuana distributor when, in another case, a pervitin dealer received only one and a half year of jail time. (Bransten 2000)

    The introduction of the new law caused concern not only for law enforcement officials and members of the judiciary, but also for non-governmental organizations working with long-term drug users. Fear of punishment, they argued, could drive clients away from the very drug rehabilitation centers designed to help them.

    In the face of growing criticism concerning the new law, the Czech Supreme State Attorney’s Office set limits on both the amounts and types of drugs one could possess without facing prosecution. This list was distributed to both state attorneys and the police as of May 2000, although the information was not made immediately available to the public (ČTK 2000). As a result of this action, greater equity in prosecuting drug crimes is expected.

    More at the link.

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