I'm a joker...I'm a smoker...I'm a midnight toker...

Leave it to the United States of America to not learn from its mistakes. In 1919, the United States ratified the 18th amendment to the Constitution, outlawing alcoholic beverages. For the next 13 years, the government tried to enforce prohibition.

The result of the 18th amendment was not the "moral and social hygiene" that was intended, but an increase in alcohol consumption and crime. Local governments became corrupted by organized crime and an entire generation grew up as bootleggers and lawbreakers. Finally, in 1933, the U.S. repealed the 18th amendment with the 21st. After 1933, government implemented the much more successful policy of focusing law enforcement efforts on irresponsible alcohol users who endanger the rights of others.

Well, ladies and gentlemen, we're back at the prohibition game again. This time it's not alcohol, but marijuana. We have forgotten the lessons prohibition taught us. The law regards all pot users as abusers, and the result has been the creation of an unnecessary class of lawbreakers. According to the FBI's Uniform Crime Report, more than 734,000 individuals were arrested on marijuana charges in 2000; more than the total number of arrestees for all violent crimes combined, including murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault.

88% of those arrested were charged with possession only. Convicted marijuana offenders are denied federal financial student aid, welfare, food stamps and may be removed from public housing. In many cases, those convicted are stripped of their driving privileges even if the offense is not driving related. In several states, marijuana offenders may receive maximum sentences of life in prison. The cost to the taxpayer of enforcing marijuana prohibition is staggering; over $10 billion annually.

On top of all that, the enforcement of marijuana laws are incredibly racist. National studies show that the difference in the number of white and black drug users is statistically insignificant. Those same studies find that blacks are arrested for marijuana offenses at higher rates than whites in 90% of 700 U.S. counties investigated. In 64% of these counties, the black arrest rate for marijuana violations was more than twice the arrest rate for whites. I'm glad to see we still value "equal protection" and justice for all Americans.

We must work to change the drug policy to remove responsible recreational users and medical users of marijuana from the criminal justice system. If we do that, we can redirect law enforcement resources toward the following goals:

▪Enforce penalties for those who provide marijuana to minors
▪Enforce penalties for those who endanger the rights of others through irresponsible use such as driving under the influence
▪Develop drug treatment programs focused on rehabilitation rather than incarceration
▪Support the efforts of state governments in developing innovative approaches to drug policy
▪Improve drug education by emphasizing science over scare tactics and moral superiority
▪Require the Justice department to review the records of, and consider for sentence reduction or release, inmates convicted for nonviolent marijuana offenses

It's "high" time we look to our nations’ past mistakes. Remember what George Santayana said, "Those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it."