Pubdate: Tue, 30 Aug 2005
Source: East Valley Tribune (AZ)
Copyright: 2005 East Valley Tribune.
Contact:  http://www.eastvalleytribune.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2708
Author: Jason Ziedenburg
Note: Jason Ziedenberg is executive director of the Justice
Policy Institute.

ANTI-POT SPENDING JUST GOES UP IN SMOKE

While marijuana may be getting the short shrift in the media due to
the heightened concern around methamphetamines, marijuana arrests --
numbering 755,000 in 2003 -- still represent the largest part of our
criminal justice response to drug use. Harvard economist Jeffrey A.
Miron has estimated law enforcement, judicial and corrections costs
associated with marijuana accounts for $5.1 billion in spending.
Despite billions in new spending and hundreds of thousands of new
arrests, marijuana use across the country seems to be unaffected by
the huge criminal justice response to this drug. At a time when
communities need more funds for meth treatment -- and the federal
government is only able to pledge $16 million in new funding, as it
did last week -- we need to review if our marijuana enforcement dollars
are really making a difference. From 1991 to 2003, as marijuana arrest
rate nationwide increased by 127 percent, use rates for all Americans
remained relatively level, climbing 22 percent in the last few years.

The dragnet isn't doing much to curb youth drug use, either.

While there was some decline in the last three years, the massive rise
in marijuana arrests corresponded with a 13-year trend toward
increased youth marijuana use. The percentage of 12th graders who said
it was "fairly easy, or very easy" to get marijuana barely changed
over the 1990s, and remains above 85 percent.

It is not surprising that the National Research Council, a
congressionally chartered institution, would report that there is
"little apparent relationship between severity of sanctions
prescribed for drug use and prevalence or frequency of use." While
the growth in arrests has had little effect in deterring people from
using this drug, the impact of marijuana convictions and imprisonment
is devastating on the lives of many individuals. Nationally, there are
41,000 people convicted of marijuana felony offenses, and these
individuals will face various barriers to re-entry ranging from the
denial of public housing to the inability to drive. In most states,
employers can ask about arrests that never led to a conviction and
refuse to hire an individual based upon their criminal record -- even
if that person is exceptionally qualified for the job. So, even if
people charged with marijuana offenses are not sent to prison, these
"collateral consequences" of a felony conviction can hamstring their
ability to work, take care of their families and contribute to their
community (including, their communities taxbase). The combined effect
can cause enough chaos in a person's life to take them out of the
community entirely, increasing their likelihood of recidivism. As the
National Research Council said, "It is unconscionable for this
country to continue to carry out a public policy of this magnitude and
cost without any way of knowing whether it is having the desired
effect." Instead of repeating our past mistakes this country should
follow the recent lead of Canada and the United Kingdom, and do what
we once did under President Nixon. We should be convening a body of
experts, including researchers, law enforcement, local government,
community organizations and others to review the efficacy and impact
of all our current drug policies, and recommend other policy choices
that might spend our scarce criminal justice and treatment dollars
more effectively.
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MAP posted-by: Derek