THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, September 1, 1994 TAG: 9409010007
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A20 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Medium: 51 lines
State police seized an indoor marijuana-growing garden last week in a Norfolk apartment building. Using a helicopter equipped with a special heat sensor, police were able to pinpoint the house in order to stage the raid.
Given that open dealing of drugs much harder than marijuana is a problem plaguing Park Place and many other areas in Hampton Roads, some residents could be forgiven for scratching their heads about the resources deployed in a marijuana bust. It's not like the house was a public nuisance. Neighbors said they had no idea anything untoward was going on inside.
Contrary to popular belief, marijuana is still a very big deal as far as law enforcement is concerned. In a lengthy two-part report in the July and August issues of Atlantic Monthly, Eric Schlosser, a New York-based writer, says: ``Calculations based on data provided by the Bureau of Prisons and the United States Sentencing Commission suggest that one of every six inmates in the federal prison system - roughly 15,000 people - has been incarcerated primarily for a marijuana offense. The number . . . being held in state prisons and local jails is more difficult to estimate; a conservative guess would be an additional 20,000 to 30,000.''
Mr. Schlosser, who interviewed close to a hundred people for his report, cites ``conservative estimates'' that ``one third of the American population over the age of eleven has smoked marijuana at least once.'' He adds: ``More than 17 million Americans smoked it in 1992. At least three million smoke it on a daily basis.''
Medically, the main danger to smokers (very heavy smokers) appears to be lung cancer and a remote chance of infertility. Some people derive medical benefit from marijuana. Many cancer patients say it reduces the nausea that accompanies chemotherapy treatments. Yet the government resolutely refuses to make the drug available for medicinal purposes.
Penalties for trafficking in marijuana remain hard-nosed. The recommended punishment in Virginia for growing a single marijuana plant is five to 30 years behind bars. In his article, Schlosser documented many cases of murderers and rapists serving shorter prison terms than convicted marijuana dealers.
Ideally, of course, the best way to put drug dealers out of business is for everyone to remain drug-free. Given the acute shortage of prison cells for the perpetrators of violent crime, however, maybe it's time the country began re-thinking the efficacy of the ``war'' on marijuana. by CNB