Jon Gettman

Science and the End of Marijuana Prohibition

In 1999, Gettman presented a landmark speech, Science and the End of Marijuana Prohibition, at the 12th International Conference on Drug Policy Reform[1]. He noted that under the Controlled Substances Act, the key decision-makers on marijuana are the scientists at the United States Department of Health and Human Services, whose scientific and medical findings are binding on the Drug Enforcement Administration. Pointing out that Schedules I and II are, by law, reserved for drugs like heroin and cocaine with a "high potential for abuse," Gettman proposed that drug policy reformers use the petitioning process to "cross-examine under oath and penalty of perjury every HHS official and scientist who claims that marijuana use is as dangerous as the use of cocaine or heroin."

Criticism of MPP

In November 2004, shortly after Marijuana Policy Project's embarassing failure to place a legalization initiative on the Nevada ballot, Gettman wrote an article for High Times accusing MPP of wasting money on state level reform[2]. MPP's Bruce Mirken responded with a column noting the success of medical marijuana initiatives and citing state-by-state efforts of the pro-choice and anti-same-sex-marriage movements as proof that "[v]irtually every political movement which has had achieved success in America has pursued state and local reforms as an integral part of a national strategy"[3]. Gettman apparently remained unconvinced; in January 2005, he wrote another article repeating his arguments against state level campaigns and calling MPP "an incompetent organization that sends well meaning supporters on fool’s errands and squanders their financial contributions on misguided, self-serving strategies that hurt the cause of reform"[4]. These comments appeared unlikely to repair the bitter rift between NORML and MPP.

See also

• Cannabis rescheduling in the United States

Reference

• DrugScience.org
• Gettman, Jon: Election Day Blues, The Cannabis Column #19, High Times, Nov. 11, 2004.
• Gettman, Jon: The Misguided Policy Project, The Cannabis Column #20, High Times, Feb. 2, 2005.
• Gettman, Jon: Science and the End of Marijuana Prohibition, May 13, 1999.
• Mirken, Bruce: MPP Responds to Jon Gettman's 'Election Day Blues'.