Marijuana and Violence
Marijuana itself does not induce violence. People don't smoke a joint and decide to shoot somebody. What produces the violence associated with marijuana is that it is illegal. The same dynamic caused the murderous Capone-style violence during Prohibition. And once Prohibition was repealed, the violence associated with the bootleg trade vanished, although the gangsters that it spawned did not. Before any sensible discussion can take place about how to deal with illegal drugs in the United States, we must make the distinction between violence associated with a drug and violence associated with the drug trade.
-- Judy Mann, in the Washington Post, May 23, 2001, p. C15
- Marijuana related violence has been in the news. The recent death of a little-known actress in a marijuana robbery has made the issue of marijuana-related violence prominent in the news. Jennifer Stahl and two of her friends were shot to death in her apartment by two men who, according to police, "came to rob her of the cash profits from her high-priced marjuana business." The story made the front page of the New York Times; click here to read the full story, "Violent Crimes Undercut Marijuana's Mellow Image", By Kevin Flynn (The NYTimes website requires that you register in order to read the article; registration is free and simple.) The article also mentions the case of Roberto DeJesus, who was fatally shot after a dispute with a rival dealer over the rights to deal marijuana in a particular neighborhood. In another recent case, Robert Petrole Jr. was shot to death in Virginia because someone owed him money for pot and didn't want to pay him back; click here to read the Washington Post article on Petrole's murder. Incidents such as the deaths of Stahl, DeJesus, and Petrole might convince other marijuana dealers that they need weapons to defend themselves, and the violence could escalate. If marijuana were legal and effectively regulated, such violence would be eliminated and Stahl, DeJesus, and Petrole would still be alive.
- Marijuana does not cause violence. Some people who support prohibition claim that marijuana itself causes violence. This was one of the original claims used to justify making marijuana illegal, but this claim is false. In fact, people who are high on marijuana tend to be relaxed, mellow, and too happy to want to fight. The truth is, alcohol DOES cause aggressive behavior, including violence. Marijuana does not. Yet alcohol is legal, and marijuana is not.
- Prohibition causes violence. That was established pretty clearly between 1920 and 1933 when the federal government tried to outlaw alcohol. Alcohol prohibition created a lucrative black market that funded mobsters and generally promoted violence and criminal activity, without significantly changing the rate of alcohol consumption. Why is it so hard for people to see that marijuana prohibition has the same effects? In fact, a recent case shows that innocent people have been hurt by violence due to marijuana prohibition. Read the Tahoe Tribune article about William Hunt and his 8-year-old son, who were both shot when they accidentally stumbled upon a marijuana garden that was protected by armed guards.
- Legalization, along with sensible regulation, would reduce violence. If marijuana were legal, the violence associated with it would disappear. Controlled distribution of the drug in a safe, regulated environment would eliminate the black market and its associated criminality. It worked with alcohol: the mobsters are no longer in control of alcohol, and police don't get shot making alcohol raids. We should take a lesson from history and legalize marijuana to reduce violence even further.
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