Marijuana.com

policystudent

Hello everyone, I'm student at the University of Missouri- St. Louis and I wondering if any of you may help me. Right now I'm writing my senior thesis on Drug Trafficking and I was wondering if there are any successful small scale legalization efforts in the United States. I was looking at the Netherlands at first but many policy solutions in Europe don't translate well in the United States.

So are there any cities in the US or counties that have some form of legalization (lessening of prosecution for marijuana users, lessening of city ordinances, centralizing use and treatment facilities, etc.) and are successful in either lowering crime, illegal drug use, or deaths from drug use and trafficking?

Thanks all :-)

 

Larz

Posession suposedly legal in Denver and has been legal in Alaska for years.

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adama

I have a case pending in Federal court right now that I am about to win. If you would like all my court docs, ( mine and the other side ) then please e-mail me at massenberg420@yahoo.com

good luck on your work.

Mike.

BartSimpson

Look who's pimping his Federal case again. This case is not the basis for scholastic reference.

I recommend you investigate the City of Oakland in California. The City has adopted by statue a specific policy regarding the use of Medical MJ - The City's Police honors Medical MJ Cards and does not prosecute growing for personal use. Helps to have a mayor named Moonbeam. Now if adama lived in Oakland, he would have none of the problems he has - except for the snakes.

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WNB

The Denver effort is noteworthy. Also check out the various decriminalization campaigns that happened in the late 1970s (many of these laws are still in effect).

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PotShot

Here is a pretty good article studying the results of different drug policies; namely, criminalization or decriminalization. Basically, policy doesn't matter all that much... people who want to use cannabis will use cannabis.

Here is the abstract:
The Limited Relevance of Drug Policy: Cannabis in Amsterdam and in San Francisco

Craig Reinarman, PhD, Peter D. A. Cohen, PhD and Hendrien L. Kaal, PhD

Craig Reinarman is with the Department of Sociology, University of California, Santa Cruz, Calif. Peter D. A. Cohen and Hendrien L. Kaal are with the Centre for Drug Research, University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

Correspondence: Requests for reprints should be sent to Craig Reinarman, Department of Sociology, University of California, 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95064 (e-mail: craigo@ucsc.edu).

Objectives. We tested the premise that punishment for cannabis use deters use and thereby benefits public health.

Methods. We compared representative samples of experienced cannabis users in similar cities with opposing cannabis policies—Amsterdam, the Netherlands (decriminalization), and San Francisco, Calif (criminalization). We compared age at onset, regular and maximum use, frequency and quantity of use over time, intensity and duration of intoxication, career use patterns, and other drug use.

Results. With the exception of higher drug use in San Francisco, we found strong similarities across both cities. We found no evidence to support claims that criminalization reduces use or that decriminalization increases use.

Conclusions. Drug policies may have less impact on cannabis use than is currently thought.

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airhead

I heard that there is a place in Southern California called Verona Beach, and it is technically legal to smoke marijuana there because it is technically not part of the United States. (??) Or some other reason.

Don't take my word for it though.

policystudent

THANKS! Peer reviewed academic journal articles are exactly what I was looking for.