Pubdate: Tue, 13 Jul 2010
Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (PA)
Copyright: 2010 PG Publishing Co., Inc.
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/pm4R4dI4
Website: http://www.post-gazette.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/341
Author: Tony Norman, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Cited: Proposition 19 http://www.taxcannabis.org/
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/Proposition+19
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?261 (Cannabis - United States)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?253 (Cannabis - Medicinal - U.S.)

LEGALIZED POT? LIKE GETTING BONGED IN THE HEAD

In November, Californians will have the opportunity to vote on a 
ballot initiative legalizing all marijuana use, whether medicinal or not.

According to the latest poll of likely California voters, Proposition 
19 will pass. This will put the Obama administration in an awkward position.

The federal government is already suing Arizona for its recently 
enacted immigration law. What will the Obama Justice Department do 
when a state goes rogue by establishing its own rules when it comes 
to licensing and taxing the sale of weed?

California law will be in opposition to federal law as well as in 
violation of a 1961 international treaty that prohibits the 
legalization of cannabis. The U.S. is a signatory to that treaty.

In a surprising move, Alice Huffman, the president of the California 
State Conference of the NAACP, threw the prestige of her organization 
behind Proposition 19.

Citing a new study by the Drug Policy Alliance, Ms. Huffman insisted 
last week that the legalization of marijuana is, among other things, 
a civil rights issue because blacks are more likely to be arrested 
for pot possession than whites, even though blacks use it at far lower rates.

In California, blacks make up 22 percent of those busted for 
marijuana possession despite being less than 7 percent of the 
population. National NAACP Chairman Julian Bond applauded Ms. 
Huffman's stance, as did the group Law Enforcement Against 
Prohibition and the California Black Chamber of Commerce.

Shortly after Ms. Huffman endorsed Prop 19, a group of black 
religious leaders called for the civil rights leader's head. "Why 
should the state NAACP advocate for blacks to stay high?" asked 
Bishop Ron Allen of the International Faith-Based Coalition. "It's 
going to cause crime to go up. There will be more drug babies."

Closer to home, a bill to legalize medical marijuana use continues to 
languish in both chambers of the state Legislature despite polling 
that puts voter support for it at 81 percent.

The Republican and Democratic gubernatorial candidates oppose medical 
use of marijuana, no matter how restrictive Pennsylvania's laws would 
be compared to California's.

(It's interesting that the leading politicians of our state favor 
liberalized gun laws, expanded gambling and the expansion of 
controversial hydraulic fracturing techniques to extract natural gas 
from below ground in ways that could adversely affect the state's 
water supply.)

There's also concern that the revenue stream created by legalizing 
marijuana in California and other places is overstated. The Rand 
Corp.'s Drug Policy Research Center said that the state's premium 
weed could drop from a high of $450 an ounce to $38. California would 
have to slap on a consumption tax to double or triple the price to 
get a workable funding stream.

The criminal black market for marijuana would collapse, but it could 
be replaced around the edges by law-abiding folks growing and selling 
their own weed. Why is that such an unacceptable outcome?

A state highly skilled at slapping on taxes like Pennsylvania could 
use the legalization of marijuana as an opportunity to provide a 
"gateway service" to the Liquor Control Board as it transitions out 
of the liquor control business.

Overnight, the LCB could become the Legalized Cannabis Board. The LCB 
could bring the benefit of generations of condescension by bored 
clerks to a sector of the economy that desperately needs it. Dealing 
with the culture of the LCB would be such a bummer for most potheads 
that demand for marijuana would drop precipitously. It is an elegant 
way to deal with both sides of the demand curve.

There would be those who would rather grow their own weed and avoid 
paying any taxes than buy it from state middlemen. As someone who 
doesn't personally indulge, the thought of neighbors growing a patch 
of Mary Jane in their back yard for private use doesn't exactly terrify me.

For most of our history, Americans grew and consumed marijuana in 
various forms. Aren't we politically mature enough to go back to the 
days of deciding what merits watering in our own back yards? If 
dealing with hemp was good enough for George Washington and the 
Founding Fathers ...

Only ideologues are unable to admit what is obvious to everyone else: 
The Drug War has been an unmitigated disaster. It has resulted in the 
fattening of profits for drug lords, the destabilization of nations, 
the corruption of law enforcement, the reallocation of dwindling 
national resources down rat holes, the expansion of the 
prison-industrial complex, expensive wars overseas and national hypocrisy.

You don't need to smoke a bong to see that.
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake