[Lnc-business] Marijuana Resolution

[Caryn Ann Harlos]

As put on the agenda, and in the interest of hashing out any issues ahead
of time that can be, this is a resolution brought to me by the Chair of the
Libertarian Party of Alaska, and on behalf of that affiliate, I submit for
our consideration - the LPAK appreciates our thoughtful consideration:

Whereas, cannabis is less harmful than alcohol and tobacco;



Whereas, existing cannabis laws represent vast government over‐reach into
the personal lives of American citizens and violate principles of personal
liberty and choice;



Whereas, existing cannabis laws have not had a significant impact on
cannabis availability;



Whereas, millions of peaceful Americans have been arrested, imprisoned,
fined, or otherwise needlessly criminalized and stigmatized, potentially
for life, because of their use of cannabis;



Whereas, over $1 trillion have been spent nationally enforcing drug laws,
including those pertaining to cannabis, since the War on Drugs was
politically initiated by President Richard Nixon in the 1970s;



Whereas, because of drug laws, including cannabis laws, the United States
has become a nation of mass incarceration – imprisoning 2 million American
citizens which represents the highest imprisonment rate of any nation on
Earth and 25% the world’s prisoners;



Whereas, the enforcement of cannabis and other drugs laws has been racist
and represents the new Jim Crow, disproportionately targeting and impacting
people of color and minorities;



Whereas, the Drug War’s “asset seizure” program has raised over $13 billion
for local police forces across the country, encouraging more cannabis and
other drug arrests while funding the purchase of high tech military
equipment for police, further militarizing their operations;



Whereas, there is a long history of Drug War abusive police tactics
including the murdering of unarmed, non‐violent, misidentified, and
innocent people;



Whereas, those arrested and accused of drug offenses, including cannabis
offenses, are often compelled by police and prosecutors to serve as
informants for investigations of potentially dangerous drug dealers or else
face additional charges; this is a disrespectful and dangerous practice
that can have lethal consequences for the accused and their families;



Whereas, existing drug laws, including those criminalizing cannabis, have
created an illegal market for drugs contributing to crime and
violence‐ridden American neighborhoods while funding drug cartels operating
in the U.S. and in other countries such as Mexico where their operations
have thoroughly undermined civil society and inflicted unimaginable
violence and corruption;



Whereas, there is a widespread and accurate belief that the War on Drugs,
including the war on cannabis, has been an abysmal failure, producing much
more harm than good;



Whereas, existing drug laws, including those criminalizing cannabis, and
their unjust enforcement have caused many Americans to lose respect for law
enforcement on all levels including prosecutors, judges, lawmakers, et.al.;



Whereas, drug courts for cannabis offenders are no solution because they
are fundamentally punitive in nature, assume cannabis users are drug
abusers and criminals, and compel those accused of cannabis offenses to
give up their rights as a condition of entering drug court in order to
escape potentially worse sanctions; drug courts leave the accused at the
mercy of court‐appointed coercive drug “counselors,” who serve the court
first and their “clients” second, and judges who can order them to jail
without recourse;



Whereas, decriminalization of cannabis is no solution because it fails to
resolve the problems described above and because it continues to maintain
two fundamental and indefensible fictions, namely, that cannabis is more
harmful than alcohol and tobacco and that cannabis users are more of a
threat to society and themselves than those who use alcohol and tobacco;



Whereas, seven states, Colorado, Washington, Alaska, California, Nevada,
Maine, and Massachusetts have voted to fully legalize cannabis, and more
states are likely to follow, over 20 states have enacted medical cannabis
laws;



Whereas, the vast majority of Americans want prohibition to end as
demonstrated by the fact that only five states in America still have full
prohibition, all others have some form of legality or decriminalization;



Whereas, an April 2, 2014, Pew Research Center poll found that 75% of
Americans believe the use and sale of cannabis will eventually be legal in
the United States nationwide;



Whereas, legalizing cannabis is an important social issue, and a genuinely
peaceful approach to cannabis and other currently illegal drugs must be
based on freedom, harm reduction, and, in the case of actual drug abuse,
free and readily available voluntary treatment – and not criminalization,
criminal enforcement, or criminal punishment; And, whereas, cannabis  for
use by adults should never have been criminalized and we should act now to
correct this wrong and all the many wrongs which have followed from it;



* * * * * * Now, therefore, be it resolved that the  Libertarian Party
National Committee  supports the full legalization of cannabis;



Be it further resolved that the  Libertarian Party National Committee  supports
and endorses the concurrent economic benefits arising from a fully legal
market which would alleviate many of the problems described above while
raising hundreds of millions of dollars in revenues which could be used to
support needed programs, close budget gaps, or finance tax cuts;



Be it further resolved that the  Libertarian Party National Committee  calls
on police, prosecutors, and judges to focus on real crime and, until
cannabis is legalized, use their discretion to stop arresting, prosecuting,
and punishing non‐violent cannabis users and minor drug sellers;



Be it further resolved that the  Libertarian Party National Committee  calls
on our President, Congress, Governors, State Legislators, Federal and State
Attorneys General, and other officials to undo the damage that has been
done by federal and state cannabis and other drug laws by eliminating
mandatory minimum sentences, releasing from prison and jail those convicted
of non‐violent cannabis and other minor drug offenses, and expunging their
criminal records.



And, finally, be it resolved that the  Libertarian Party National
Committee  supports
the legalization of industrial hemp which can be grown containing minimal
amounts of psycho‐active ingredients like THC and used to produce renewable
food, oil, wax, resin, rope, cloth, paper and fuel in support of a
sustainable full‐employment society; and furthermore, calls on federal and
state legislators to develop new programs to encourage a decentralized
family farm and community‐oriented approach to industrial hemp development
as a means to a sustainable full‐employment society.


-- 
*In Liberty,*
*Caryn Ann Harlos*
Region 1 Representative, Libertarian National Committee (Alaska, Arizona,
Colorado, Hawaii, Kansas, Montana, Utah, Wyoming, Washington) - Caryn.Ann.
Harlos at LP.org <Caryn.Ann.Harlos at LP.org>
Communications Director, Libertarian Party of Colorado
<http://www.lpcolorado.org>
Colorado State Coordinator, Libertarian Party Radical Caucus
<http://www.lpradicalcaucus.org>
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