Marijuana Legalization in the United States and Europe

It has been estimated that 400 million people in the world use marijuana but I would guess that the actual use is twice or three times that.

(PORTLAND, OR) - It is difficult to keep up with the legalization of marijuana by American states. Two have already decriminalized, and last week legislation was introduced to remove legal sanctions against pot in Oregon, and the number is growing rapidly, and now that states have figured out that marijuana business can be taxed and bring in many millions of dollars, it looks like real progress.

CNN had a show about marijuana Friday night. The advocates did an excellent job but the anti-marijuana scoffers were having a field day quoting 'Reefer Madness' and the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) falsies. One of the scoffers was a police official from Vermont who didn't have a single word of acceptance. They also had the executive director of LEAP (Law Enforcement Against Prohibition) who did an excellent job. Somebody pointed out that police surveillance of drug activity was costing about $40 billion per year and that putting marijuana users in prison was costing roughly another $40 billion per year. Is this good?

The guy from Vermont stated that all of the European countries which had legalized marijuana were now reversing the laws. I did not believe it, so I checked the latest online information.

Marijuana is now more or less legal in Iceland, Great Britain, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Holland, France, Italy, Denmark, Czech Republic, and the list keeps going. I also checked for Africa, it is illegal most places but widely used in Morocco, Algeria, Kenya, South Africa, and Malawi, where some of the best grass is growing. Central and South American countries are widely tolerant of marijuana use.

In eastern Europe it is still illegal but widely used. St Petersburg, Russia, sounds much like Vancouver, B.C.

It has been estimated that 400 million people in the world use marijuana but I would guess that the actual use is twice or three times that.

The scoffers, including the guy from Vermont, always introduce figures about the harm marijuana does and the automobile accidents which it does not cause.

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Dr. Phil Leveque, Professor of Pharmacology:
February 22, 1923 - May 2, 2015 (RIP)
Dr. Leveque was one of Oregon's first toxicologists and served as an expert witness in more than 400 cases. "I won about 80% of my cases and angered a lot of lawyers in the process," he laughed. "Doc" was instrumental in the creation of Oregon law that allowed the use of Medical Marijuana in the late 1990's, and became notorious when The Oregonian dubbed him "Oregon's Most Dangerous Doctor". All because he knew the benefits of medicinal cannabis and shared that information with others. This Oregon doctor signed medical marijuana applications for over 5,000 patients during his tenure, about 1,000 being Veterans. He gave the patients his all.
Dr. Leveque was a WWII Veteran and suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) nearly 70 years. Because he had a unique understanding of the effects of PTSD, he specialized in treating Veterans during his years as a doctor in Molalla, Oregon. Many of them attribute their success in overcoming hard drug and alcohol addiction to his help and support. He authored several books, "General Patton's Dogface Soldiers", his WWII memoir, is the most notable.
Dr. Leveque began working with Salem-News.com in 2007, and quickly became an integral part of our team. We could barely keep up with him. Our friend and mentor, Dr. Phil Leveque will always be greatly missed.