Here is the take from Former Law Enforcement Officers who are members of the group LEAP (Law Enforcement Against Prohibition)
In the cartoons above, the cartoonists are portraying the dangers that come from marijuana. However, none of these dangers come from cancer, liver disease or death by over consumption. The real danger of marijuana is the danger that it puts law enforcers, innocent civilians, and government officials in everyday... from fighting people that sale, grow and traffic marijuana illegally. The true damage may not come to the human that smokes the joint, but the money that person gives by purchasing that hash is funding organizations or people that are very dangerous.
In the United States of America we spend more than 9 billion tax dollars a year to fight the war on marijuana. We currently have more than 33,600 state inmates and over 10,500 federal inmates who are in jail for marijuana charges. Eight billion of those tax dollars go to criminal justice costs, the other 1 billion goes to putting the law breakers into jail. In cartoon #15 we refer to a shooting that happened in Canada where four Canadian Police officers went to a seize property where marijuana was being grown illegally. In the U.S. since 2005 there have been over 20 police officers killed enforcing the drug laws. In Mexico over 1000 police and prosecutors have been killed and over 200 federal police officers have been killed over the war on drugs. In cartoon #8 we see a picture of the Statue of Liberty lighting up. In New York they are spending over 830 million dollars a year on drugs alone.
The problem we see is that marijuana is illegal but other then that is very hard to restrict. To make my point more clear, studies have shown that it is easier for kids under the age of 21 to get marijuana then it is to for them to drink alcohol. Why? That is because the government controls alcohol through laws like age, but when it comes to marijuana there are no such age limits. You will never hear a drug dealer ask a kid for his ID. By passing laws for the legalization of marijuana like Prop 19, is not for the right to get high, rather it is for public safety. In Mexico, 28000 people have died over dope wars, But none have died over the regulation of alcohol and tobacco. If we were to regulate marijuana like we do tobacco and alcohol, it would be easier to keep out of kid’s hands, and it would put many American, Canadian, and Mexican law enforcers out of danger.
Drug Cartels of Mexico receive 60-70 percent of their income from marijuana. They literally drive cars packed with cash through the border back to Mexico. If America were able to legalize Marijuana they would be able to cut down the profits of these Drug Gangs by over 50% and save countless lives.
