Pubdate: Sat, 1 May 2010
Source: Sacramento Bee (CA)
Page: 13A
Copyright: 2010 The Sacramento Bee
Contact: 
http://www.sacbee.com/2006/09/07/19629/submit-letters-to-the-editor.html
Website: http://www.sacbee.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/376
Author: John Russo
Cited: Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act http://www.taxcannabis.org/
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/Tax+Cannabis+Act
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?115 (Cannabis - California)

IT'S TIME TO LEGALIZE AND REGULATE POT

When it comes to marijuana policy, California has been stuck in a 
fairy tale for decades.

This particular fairy tale is like "The Emperor's New Clothes."

Everybody can see that marijuana prohibition has done nothing to 
prevent its use, and that arresting tens of thousands Californians 
every year for misdemeanor possession diverts police resources away 
from violent felonies.

And nobody is blind to the fact that marijuana has funded and 
empowered the sociopathic drug cartels responsible for untold 
suffering and violence on both sides of the border.

It's time for Californians to acknowledge the truth about the war on 
marijuana. Not only is it ineffective, it directly compromises public 
safety in our state.

In November, California can become the first state to recognize this 
reality by passing the Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010.

This smart initiative would legalize personal cultivation and 
possession of small amounts of marijuana for adults over the age of 
21. Individual cities and counties could strictly regulate 
distribution and sales as they see fit. It would increase the penalty 
for providing marijuana to minors, and sales by unlicensed dealers 
those now funding the cartels and wreaking havoc in our cities would 
still be illegal.

California banned cannabis almost a century ago based on sensational 
and unscientific notions about the plant. Modern prohibition, based 
on some of the same anachronistic ideas, has failed to control 
widespread availability and use. Like the 18th Amendment's 
prohibition against alcohol, it is routinely overlooked by millions 
of otherwise law-abiding citizens.

Others have made common-sense arguments about the economic benefits 
of taxing this major industry. Cannabis is by far the largest cash 
crop in the state, with an estimated value of about $14 billion. 
Estimated tax revenue from sales alone would be $1.4 billion money 
that could go to police, public schools and other critical services 
now being gutted by California's budget crisis.

As the city attorney of Oakland a city where dozens of people are 
killed in drug-related murders every year my primary concern is the 
war on marijuana's collateral damage to public safety.

Black-market marijuana is a main source of fuel powering the vast 
criminal enterprises that threaten peace on our streets and weaken 
national security on our borders. According to the White House Office 
of National Drug Control Policy, the Mexican drug cartels get more 
than 60 percent of their revenue from selling marijuana in the United States.

Money is the oxygen of these organizations. For decades, our approach 
to fighting violent drug gangs has been like trying to put out a 
house fire with a watering can. Why not try shutting off the fire's 
main oxygen supply?

The actual costs of enforcing prohibition are hard to estimate. We 
spend hundreds of millions of dollars and countless law enforcement 
hours arresting people for low-level marijuana crimes, further 
overburdening courts and prisons. Jail beds needed for marijuana 
offenders could be "used for other criminals who are now being 
released early because of a lack of jail space," the state 
Legislative Analyst's Office wrote.

More than 61,000 Californians were arrested for misdemeanor marijuana 
possession in 2008. That same year, about 60,000 violent crimes went 
unsolved statewide. The reality is that resources tied up fighting 
marijuana would be better spent solving and preventing violent 
felonies and other major crimes.

Regulating and controlling marijuana is really a law-and-order 
measure. It takes marijuana off street corners and out of the hands 
of children. It cuts off a huge source of revenue to the violent 
gangsters who now control the market. And it gives law enforcement 
more capacity to focus on what really matters to Californians making 
our communities safer.

It's time we call marijuana prohibition what it is an outdated and 
costly approach that has failed to benefit our society. In November, 
we will finally have the chance to take a rational course with the 
Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act. 
- ---
MAP posted-by: Richard Lake