Mark Small

Pot never has been proven to have a “gateway effect.” Janet E. Joy, et al., "Marijuana and Medicine: Assessing the Science Base," Div. of Neuroscience and Behavioral Research, Institute of Medicine (Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 1999). 8/21

No link has been established betw smoking pot/increases in traffic accidents Epidemiological studies inconclusive re: whether pot use causes increase risk of accidents Sewell, et al “The Effect of Cannabis Compared with Alcohol on Driving, Am J. Addict. 2009; 18(3): p. 185. 9/21

otoh org'd crime profits loves marijuana illegal According to one study, when a state on Mexican border legalised medical use, violent crime fell by 13% on average. The Guardian, “Legal marijuana cuts violence says US study, as medical-use laws see crime fall,” 01/14/18. 10/21

The danger of buying and using any illegal drug is we can never know for sure what exactly is in it. Since cannabis is illegal, it is unregulated. It could contain contaminants like mold or mildew or fillers that may be toxic. ... 11/21

Drugs produced and obtained inside a regulated system can be controlled for purity and strength. The Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research, “If cannabis is dangerous, why are we legalizing it?” 2018. 12/21

Drug laws racially discriminate: despite studies showing black and white people use marijuana at the same rates, black people are approximately four times as likely to be arrested for either misdemeanor or felony marijuana possession, and enforcement ... 13/21

of marijuana poss'n laws has created crippling backlog at state agency tasked w/analyzing forensic evidence in all criminal cases includ viol crimes. Alabama Appleseed Center for Law and Justice and the Southern Poverty Law Center , “Alabama’s War on Marijuana,” 10/18/18. 14/21

3. Because marijuana is illegal under Federal law, banks do not allow accounts for cannabis businesses. That subjects people in States in which pot is legal to heightened concerns for security. 15/21

One person at last night’s debate suggested it is not the right time to legalize pot. That is as silly as when people claimed the time was not “right” for marriage equality. 16/21

The same candidate said this was not an issue she considers as amongst the most important. I say because prohibition of marijuana affects tens of millions of people in this country every day, it IS important. 17/21

While I believe marijuana should be legalized, I would go further and say the arguments about prohibition apply equally to all drugs. All drugs should be legalized. Portugal decriminalized all drugs - IN 2001. 18/21

In Portugal, usage rates have gone down. They face none of the problems that those who pushed the “war on drugs” said we would face. (I was at one of several events that commemorated the end of the “war on drugs.” The events were called Grateful Dead concerts.) 19/21

We need to legalize all drugs, expunge the criminal histories of non-violent drug offenses of all of those who have been victims of this absurd effort, and devote our resources elsewhere than drug enforcement. 20/21