Washington Post Actually
Reports!!
"Thousands Stream Through Central London to Support Legalization of Marijuana"
(Ed. note: The Post’s coverage -- and/or
lack thereof -- on the marijuana issues is both comical and scandalous. It is comical that
they will report on the issue in California or Britain, but not in their home city. That
their home city is the nation’s capital makes this a national scandal. The ignorami
who govern us read the Post, so it is a case of out-of-sight-out-of-mind. When the Post
does editorialize on the subject it is either DEA party line or a "debate"
between the Drug Czar and Joe Califano over the means of prohibition. Observe that this
story was carried on page 25, but The New York Times web site indicates that the paper for
"All the News that Fits" couldn’t fit this in at all. So, this makes
this story the story. It actually reports that there really and truly are
people who think differently about cannabis. Honest, swear-to-god, did-you-ever. This will
ruin the day for the Drug Czar. Absurd letter coming.)By T. R. Reid
Washington Post Foreign Service
March 29, 1998; Page A25
LONDON, March 28—Basking in the support of mainstream politicians, leading
newspapers and magazines, and other pillars of the Establishment, thousands of
demonstrators marched through the heart of London today on behalf of a fashionable
political idea that has been a complete non-starter in the United States: legalizing
marijuana.
Some of the marchers wore their hair in neon-bright shades of chartreuse, pink and
purple, and many lit up hand-rolled "spliffs" -- that's the British version of
the American term "joint" -- along the way. But the tone was laid-back and
orderly; there were no arrests or confrontations.
The size and the respectability of the march -- with a member of
Parliament and a nationally prominent editor leading a mile-long serpent of people through
the downtown streets -- reflects the growing divide between European nations and the
United States on the prohibition of marijuana for medical purposes and for recreation.
Over the past 10 years, U.S. drug laws have been made tougher; some states now impose
stiff mandatory jail sentences on marijuana offenders. There is no member of Congress who
supports legalizing marijuana and minimal media support for the idea.
Europe, meanwhile, has been loosening prohibitions on pot. The Netherlands has
legalized possession of amounts up to an ounce; France and some German states have moved
to de facto legalization, with users usually given nothing more than a warning by police.
Italians passed a nationwide referendum calling for legalization, but the highest court
voided the vote. (Ed. note: Not really, but close enough. Nothing in
this paragraph is quite accurate, but it so much better than anything that normally
appears in the Post.)
In Britain, marijuana remains a controlled substance on the law books, but in practice
most offenders get off with a warning. Last summer, when the Conservative Party lost
control of the government to the more liberal, youth-oriented Labor Party, there was
speculation that the law might be rewritten.
The Labor prime minister, Tony Blair, has said he intends to keep drug laws unchanged.
But the government's position was undermined recently when the son of Blair's home
secretary (roughly equivalent to the U.S. attorney general) was caught selling marijuana
-- and released with only a "caution" from police.
See London - It Was the
"Justice" Minister's Son Who Sold the Hash to the Reporter!
In recent months there has been increasing clamor here for legalization. The movement
has the open support of some members of Parliament, many columnists and academics, and
business tycoons such as Richard Branson of Virgin Atlantic Airways and Anita Roddick,
founder of the Body Shop and Britain's leading female entrepreneur.
A national newspaper, the Independent, has launched a full-scale campaign for
legalization, and some newsmagazines have signed on as well.
© Copyright 1998 The Washington Post Company
Supported