CRC statement of Beliefs

Industrial Cannabis Production

UMACRC belives that the benefits to the environment and to the consumer of the widespread utilization of industrial cannabis products - such as paper, textile, oil, food, and animal feed - woudl far outweigh the benefits that the prohibition of cannabis brings to certain elements of big business, and therefore UMACRC believes that industrial cannabis products should be allowed to freely enter the market. The UMACRC holds that the Drug Enforcement Administration does not have the right to oppose the growth of industrial grade cannabis sativa and that any authority currently exercised by the DEA over this agricultural policy should be revoked. UMACRC considers prior DEA actions opposing legal reform of agricultural policy by state legislatures to be a violation of the Hatch Act.

Cannabis Medicines

UMACRC belives that certain cannabis medicines have been proven very effective in treating certain ailments. This includes multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, migraine headaches, and severe nausea (such as that encountered by the cancer chemotherapy and AIDS patients), and have also been shown to have very few side effects, and therefore UMACRC believes it is cruel to deny patients access to potentially life-saving cannabis medicines. UMACRC recognizes this as a serious, pressing issues where immediate reform is imperative.

Recreational Cannabis

UMACRC supports the removal of all criminal and civil penalties fro the posession and comsumption of cannabis. UMACRC belives this is an issue of civil rights and liberty.

Regulation

UMARCR advocates a system of regulation that would include age restrictions, public health, and agricultural controls. A well-planned system of cannabis regulation would discourage abuse, protect public health and safety, and reduce crime associated with illicit distribution. Regulation is the inevitable replacement of prohibition. UMACRC takes no position on marijuana taxation, but reconignizes that the legal cannabis industry has the potential to raise enormous sums of public revenue.

Personal Cultivation

UMACRC belives that the right to possess cannabis also inclues the right to grow small amounts for personal use, to transport, and to make casual, non-profit transfers of small amounts of cannabis.

Drug Abuse

UMACRC belives that drug addiction is an illness best treated by doctors rather than prison guards. UMACRC is opposed to drug abuse, whether legal or illegal drugs are involved. However, the UMACRC reconignizes a distinction between use and abuse.

Destruction of Criminal Records and Forfeiture Reform

UMACRC urges the enactment of legislation to provide for the destruction of criminal records of persons arrested for or convicted of offenses prior to the enactment of legislation repealing criminal penalties for such offenses. UMACRC considers civil asset forfeiture for non-violent drug offenses to be and affront to the rights guaranteed all Americans. UMACRC advocates just compensation to those who have been violated by the abuse of these statutes.

Public Use

UMACRC reconignizes the individual right of non-smokers not to be subjected to the discomfort, or whatever health risks might arise from the smoking of any substance in designated non-smoking areas. However, the UMACRC is opposed to criminal law being used to regulate such activity

Driving While Intoxicated

UMACRC strongly discourages driving motor vehicles while impared for any reason, and reconignizes the legitimate public interest in the prohibition of such activity. However, UMACRC belives that it is in the best interest of the public to develop methods of measuring imparement which do not rely on arbitrary chemical tests. UMACRC belives that the use of urine or blood tests has slowed down technological development in this important endevor

Workplace Drug Testing

UMACRC believs employees should be hired and fired based on their performance and competence. UMACRC holds that the use of chemical tests for drug use is not an effictive strategy to reduce accidents, abuse, and to improve workplace efficiency. UMACRC views the workplace drug testing industry as a waste of resources and a danger to constitutional liberty and worker's rights.

Role of the Military in Law Enforcement

UMACRC opposes any use of the military in civilian, domestic law enforcement.

Cannabis Eradication

UMACRC is opposed to the use of Paraquat and all other chemical or biological agents intended to destry or identify cannabis under cultivation in this or any other country. UMACRC supports the prohibition of herbicides used to spray cannabis as consistant with the protection of public health and the environment

Cannabis Research and Women

UMACRC urges revision of current FDA policies which severly limit cannabis research on women of childbearing age. UMACRC belives that such restrictions are unwarrented, and that studies on the effects of cannabis on women and men of all ages are necessary, important, and should be encouraged by the NIDA and other similar agencies.

Main Our Mission News & Events About the CRC Contact the CRC Links to other Legalization Efforts

cannabis@stuaf.umass.edu
Last modified: Sat Sep 2 12:15:56 EDT 2000