From $5 to $15 to $25; how high will the Ann Arbor City Council raise the marijuana possession fine? The city has a reputation for "marijuana-friendly" laws that, unlike many of their state and federal counterparts, are not excessively taxing on those found in possession of the drug. Over the past 20 years, the fine grew from $5 to the present rate of $25. A recent proposal before the Ann Arbor City Council would raise the fine again - exacting a severe financial penalty for using a drug whose illegal status is illogical. The city council should ignore the proposal. Marijuana is not as dangerous a drug as substances that are already legal.
The intent is to keep minors from using marijuana and other drugs by increasing the financial penalty for such behavior. But arbitrarily increasing the fine will do little to prevent young persons' drug use. In effect, it will serve to punish adults more harshly for using a drug that should be legal. Taking marijuana off the list of illicit substances would allow officials to mandate tighter controls and regulations for its sale - keeping it out of the hands of minors.
Many argue that legalizing marijuana would promote its widespread use. But like a child reaching for cookies that they are not supposed to eat, many marijuana users are attracted as much to the drug's allure as an illegal substance as they are to its actual chemical effects. After Prohibition's end, alcohol use did not increase markedly - it is likely that marijuana would follow suit. If pot were legalized, millions of dollars would be freed to enhance educational programs focused on keeping students off more dangerous drugs.
Marijuana, unlike most of its companion illegal substances, is not addictive. The health consequences associated with smoking the drug are the same as those smokers of legal nicotine cigarettes incur - negating the argument that pot poses a significant health risk. In fact, the drug does considerably less damage to the body than does alcohol, a legal and more socially accepted chemical.
The government spends millions of dollars annually to incarcerate marijuana law offenders. Someone is arrested for possession of a cannabis substance almost every minute. These huge expenditures remove money from other important social programs that could use the funds, such as drug education programs. Present programs put an equal emphasis on all drugs - telling children that substances as diverse as cocaine, heroin, marijuana and LSD all have the same effects and consequences. But marijuana has none of the other drugs' addictive qualities and is not associated with overdose deaths.
In fact, marijuana proved itself useful in the medical setting. Arizona and California voters approved the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes more than a year ago. The drug increases AIDS patients' appetite as well as curbs vomiting in cancer patients after chemotherapy treatments. It can also be used in the treatment of glaucoma, multiple sclerosis and epilepsy. The drug has numerous beneficial medical applications - it is imperative that it be available to doctors in all states for continued use.
Marijuana remains illegal in the United States, but Ann Arbor city ordinances do not exact a stiff financial penalty for the drug's possession. City council should maintain the city's reputation of social protest to marijuana's illegality and keep the marijuana possession fine at its present low level.
10-31-97
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