As the general public becomes more accepting of marijuana, and states roll out legalization programs, the reality that pot is safe has never been more evident. Unfortunately, there is a small segment of the population that derives its paycheck from marijuana prohibition. These few law enforcement factions, who choose to live in the Dark Ages, will go as far as killing you to protect you from marijuana. Marijuana has never caused health problems or the death of anyone, but unfortunately, this small faction dedicated to enforcement of outdated marijuana laws have proven that the mere possession of pot can still kill you.
According to the Washington Post, there have been at least 85 SWAT raids that have resulted in death. Twenty of those deaths were over mere suspicion of marijuana sales. According to the DEA themselves, “No death from overdose of marijuana has been reported.” The vast majority of raids are based on suspicion of drug sales. In all, 61 (around 70%) of all raids were waged as part of the war on drugs. With marijuana, for 20 out of 85 deadly raids that have occurred, the only realistic way marijuana is going to kill you, is by being shot by law enforcement.
In two of the cases involving marijuana raids that led to the suspect getting shot, there was no weapon involved. The police shot unarmed marijuana dealers when there was no threat to them. At this point, one has to ask if the enforcement of outdated and ignorant laws is worth the carnage it creates. Another reality we have to face is that police are too quick to use SWAT teams to serve basic arrest or search warrants. A 2014 ACLU study showed that only 7% of all SWAT raids involved hostage or barricaded subject scenarios, leaving the remaining 93% for serving general warrants. This is a drastic shift from even the 1990s when utilizing SWAT units for anything other than extreme emergency situations was a rarity.
Organizations leading the push for increased marijuana raids – like the DEA – make their living locking up pot dealers. The vast majority of drug cases made by the DEA are not against cartels or heroin dealers like you see on TV, but against the guy next door growing a few plants. Raiding marijuana growers does nothing but put the men and women of law enforcement in harm’s way for no reason. Warrants can be served by two units and a knock on the door. In general, marijuana growers tend not to be armed and dangerous as the police stereotype would have you believe.
The Trump administration and AG Jeff Sessions have vowed greater enforcement of federal marijuana laws at a time when now more than half of the states have implemented some form of legalization. We live in a time when the government, including the DEA and police, recognize what science and history has already told us. The continued enforcement of marijuana laws and raids on innocent people do nothing but place everyone involved in danger.
Sources: Washington Post, AlterNet.
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