Roar Mikalsen - HUMAN RISING - radiofri..

141 Ibid s 77.
142 LEAP & Criminal Justice Policy Foundation, We Can Do it Again, Desember 2008.
143 Legaliseringstrender i USA
Den amerikanske advokatforeningen (American Bar Assiciation) har ved mange anledninger
talt forbudet imot, og det samme har kriminologene i USA (the American Society of
Criminology). I tillegg til det finner du på http//www.vlc.org, en liste over dommere som er
gått offentlig ut og erklært seg i opposisjon til lovgivningen. De har dette å si om saken:
“As judges and lawyers, we share with all Americans a deep concern about the threat that
drugs pose to our children and our country. For more than twenty years, our nation’s
response to this threat has been a ‘War on Drugs,’ enforced primarily through a criminal
justice process which we administer and observe on a daily basis.
Though we differ in political orientation and career experience, we unanimously
observe that neither drugs nor drug abuse has been eliminated or appreciably reduced,
despite massive spending on interdiction and harsh punishments. Attempts at enforcement
have clogged the courts, filled the prisons with non-predatory offenders, corrupted officials
at home and abroad, bread disrespect for the law in important communities, imperiled the
liberties of the people, burdened the taxpayers, impeded public health efforts to stem the
spread of HIV and other infectious diseases, and brought the nation no closer to abstinence.
As Congress and state legislatures enact more punitive and costly drug control measures, we
conclude with alarm that the war on drugs now causes more harm than drug abuse itself.
Accordingly, we join with our colleagues in calling upon our profession, elected officials, the
media and the public to initiate a truly open and honest evaluation of the efficacy and
consequences of our drug control laws. Only a public debate guided by mutual respect can
yield better drug laws in which fear, prejudice and punitive prohibitions yield to commom
sense, science, public health and human rights. As America must never ‘surrender’ to drugs,
neither must she surrender to inertia or fear that shuts off debate, suppresses critical
analysis, dismisses alternatives to current policies, and vilifies those who express dissenting
views.” (James P Gray, Why Our Drug Laws Have Failed And What We Can Do About It; A
Judical Indictment of the War on Drugs, (Temple University Press 2001) s 3.)
Også flere helseorganisasjoner i USA markerer motstand mot regjeringens cannabispolitikk:
Både American Nurses Association og American Public Health Association har tidligere
anbefalt legalisering av cannabis for medisinsk bruk. I tillegg til det, gikk American College of
Physicians ut i 2008 og sa at cannabis bør fjernes fra innholdslisten den i dag befinner seg i
(slik at bruk av cannabis som medisin, og forskning rundt temaet blir enklere, og året etter
gjorde American Medical Association (AMA) det samme.
Andre organisasjoner som stiller seg bak cannabis som legitimt legemiddel er: the
American Public Health Association, AIDS Action Council, Leukemia & Lymphoma Society,
American Academy of HIV Medicine, American Nurses Association, Lymphoma Foundation of
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