Decriminalization recommendations

In 1977, President Jimmy Carter recommended federal marijuana decriminalization because of the harm being done to young people arrested for its use. However, even the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), endorses the statement that adolescent marijuana use should be a legitimate concern for all Americans. 25... 

After the enactment of the CSA there followed a period of uncertainty as the use of illicit drugs increased. Because of conflicts between the philosophy of enforcement and that of treatment or toleration, a presidential National Commission on Marijuana and Drug Abuse (NCMDA) was established in 1972. Its task was to report within a year on marijuana, its highest priority, and within 2 years on drug abuse in general. The committee s first report recommended that possession of small amounts of marijuana should be decriminalized (i.e., a finable offense not subject to incarceration). The final report appeared in March 1973 and reconfirmed its original recommendation. Despite these recommendations, President Nixon remained opposed to decriminalization. 

The panel did find short-term effects on "immediate memory, "oral communication and "learning, and said that it sometimes "may trigger temporary confusion and delirium. Noting that "about a quarter of the entire [U.S.] population has tried it at least once, Reiman reported the study group s recommendations (1) more work to produce marijuana derivatives with increased therapeutic action and less side effects, (2) a high-priority national effort to find out more about this drug, and (3) the decriminalization of penalties for personal marijuana use. 

True to his promise, President Nixon rejected these recommendations. But local communities and various states had already begun to take the legalization question into their own hands. In 1971, the college town community of Ann Arbor, Michigan, adopted the unprecedented step of decriminalizing marihuana from a felony prison offense to a misdemeanor, with a maximum sentence of ninety days in jail and/or a 100 fine. 

Marijuana use and sale, and arrest and imprisonment of people involved to these ends, has created a situation today which has close parallels with the alcohol prohibition days in America. The solution proposed is decriminalization for use, in many cases, and sale of marijuana on an alcohol-based tax and distribution model, as an alternate recommendation. It is a clear fact that the mere cost involved with enforcement, prosecution and imprisonment today is so phenomenal that it is completely paralyzing the judicial system. 

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