Pubdate: Wed, 3 Feb 2010
Source: Wall Street Journal (US)
Copyright: 2010 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Contact:  http://www.wsj.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/487
Cited: Law Enforcement Against Prohibition http://leap.cc/
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?261 (Cannabis - United States)

DUO PUSHES RHODE ISLAND TO DECRIMINALIZE POT

PROVIDENCE, R.I.--A retired police officer and the proprietor of an 
organic eatery make an odd couple when it comes to trying to overturn 
marijuana laws in this tiny state, but Jack Cole and Josh Miller are 
giving it their best shot. Mr. Cole, 71 years old, is a veteran of 
decades with the New Jersey State Police, almost all with the drug 
squad. Mr. Miller, 55, runs Local 121, a restaurant favored among 
"buy local" diners, and also serves in the state Senate, where he 
leads a special commission to study marijuana prohibitions. The panel 
began hearings in January to discuss an overhaul of the state's pot 
laws, starting with decriminalization of small amounts. As 
legislators across the U.S. struggle to rescue state budgets hammered 
by the recession, decriminalization is one idea gaining traction. 
Advocates say states could cut costs of policing, prosecuting and 
incarcerating offenders, and even raise money by taxing users.

"Any respect for this issue lies right now in its impact on the 
budget," said Mr. Miller.

His committee will hear testimony Wednesday from Mr. Cole, the 
founder of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, or LEAP, a national 
lobby seeking an end to the drug war. LEAP's 10,000 members include 
many former police officers, corrections workers and federal agents 
of the Border Patrol and Drug Enforcement Administration.

Decriminalization faces resistance from district attorneys and police 
departments that have grown used to making arrests and building 
criminal cases in a longstanding war-on-drugs tradition, and often 
equate decriminalization with being "soft" on crime.

The first steps state legislatures take tend to be narrow: legalizing 
marijuana use for cancer or glaucoma patients, or allowing 
municipalities to impose fines on casual smokers.

In California, one of 14 states that allow marijuana use for medical 
purposes, legislators are weighing a bill to legalize most marijuana 
sales and create tax and licensing fees for the industry. The measure 
was approved by the state Assembly's Public Safety Committee last 
month, but probably won't advance further this session.

New Hampshire is considering a pair of House bills, one to legalize 
and tax pot sales, and another to decriminalize possession. A 
medical-marijuana bill passed last year but was vetoed by the governor.

Decriminalization measures have also been introduced in Vermont, 
Virginia and Washington, while medical-marijuana bills are being 
considered in Maryland, Delaware and Wisconsin, among other states. 
Mr. Miller said that in Rhode Island, which allows medical-marijuana 
use, decriminalization was the next step. He noted that last month a 
bill was introduced in the House to make possession of an ounce or 
less a civil offense punishable by a fine of $100, rather than a 
criminal offense. Rhode Island has run budget deficits of just over 
$200 million in each of the past two years, and is looking at a $400 
million deficit in the next fiscal year on a budget of $7 billion. 
Savings from decriminalization wouldn't be great, Mr. Miller 
conceded--say, $2 million to $3 million a year by freeing prison beds 
occupied by pot offenders. Rhode Island spends about $33,000 a year per inmate.

Not everyone agrees with that math. Matthew Dawson, deputy chief of 
the criminal division of the state attorney general's office, 
testified before Mr. Miller's panel last month that the state would 
achieve "zero savings" from decriminalization. He said police and 
prosecutors employed criminal charges for possession to plea bargain 
with suspects, and that suspects might otherwise have to be 
prosecuted for more serious crimes, at greater cost to the state. 
Others say possession charges help police cajole witnesses into 
cooperating in criminal inquiries.

Mr. Miller said such arguments may persuade some of his colleagues, 
but others would look to the decision two years ago in neighboring 
Massachusetts to decriminalize pot, which raised hopes among some 
legislators that a similar measure could pass in Rhode Island. "It's 
not far-off California, but the big state next door," Mr. Miller said.

Mr. Cole traveled to Providence recently to help Mr. Miller craft a 
strategy. He often wears a badge that reads: "Cops Say Legalize 
Drugs. Ask Me Why." In his standard speech, he describes the epiphany 
he experienced early in his career as an undercover narcotics 
investigator. "I learned firsthand of the family-destroying 
consequences of sending drug users [often mothers and fathers] to 
jail. I can't think of a better policy for creating the next 
generation of drug addicts than to remove parents from children," he 
said. "I also realized that when police arrested a robber or rapist 
they made the community safer for everyone but when I arrested a drug 
pusher, I simply created a job opening for someone in a long line of 
people willing to take his place."

Messrs. Cole and Miller agreed the former cop's presentation must 
appeal to law-and-order politicians. Mr. Cole said the way to win 
them over was to show that chasing pot smokers keeps police from 
fighting other crimes. "Look at the clearance rates for these 
crimes," he said. In the 1960s, before federal antidrug funds flowed 
heavily to states, "91% of all murders in this country were solved. 
Today, it's 61%." He cited similar drops for arson (60% unsolved) 
robbery (75% unsolved) and rape (60% unsolved). Mr. Cole said the 
national addiction rate has remained unchanged for a century at about 
1.3% of the population. He concludes that if drugs are legalized, the 
addiction rate would stay the same, "but we'll be spending a lot less 
to manage it."
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake