Pubdate: Tue, 14 Sep 2010
Source: Gilroy Dispatch, The (CA)
Copyright: 2010 The Gilroy Dispatch
Contact:  http://www.gilroydispatch.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3377
Author: Lisa Pampuch
Cited: Proposition 19 http://yeson19.com/
Bookmark: http://mapinc.org/find?272 (Proposition 19)

LEGALIZE MARIJUANA, YES ON 19 - IT MAKES SENSE

"Prop 19 is about prioritizing our resources so we can meet the real 
problems that California faces, while respecting the rights of adults 
to make decisions free from government intrusion." - Former Seattle 
Police Chief Norm Stamper

Like Chief Stamper, I support legalization of recreational marijuana 
and will vote yes on Proposition 19, which would allow Californians 
age 21 and older to possess up to one ounce of marijuana. Here's why:

. Marijuana prohibition is an utter, abject failure. Like alcohol 
prohibition before it, people still use the banned substance. In a 
2006 report published in Harm Reduction Journal, Ryan S. King and 
Marc Mauer wrote that despite 30 years of "aggressively pursuing 
marijuana," usage rates remain flat at about 6 percent of the U.S. 
population. CNBC estimated that the U.S. marijuana market is worth 
between $10 and $40 billion annually.

. Marijuana prohibition creates a hugely profitable market that gangs 
exploit. Chief Stamper notes that "Marijuana sales in the United 
States are the source of 60 percent of Mexican drug cartels' profit, 
and the cartels use that money to subsidize more expensive drugs, 
such as heroin and cocaine, which would otherwise be more expensive 
due to transportation and production costs."

It's senseless to keep failed laws that help violent gangs subsidize 
production, transportation and marketing of deadly drugs like heroin 
and cocaine.

. The cost of enforcing marijuana prohibition is exorbitant. CNBC 
reported on the 2010 study entitled "The Budgetary Implications of 
Drug Prohibition" by Harvard's Jeffrey Miron: "... Legalizing 
marijuana would save $13.7 billion per year in government expenditure 
on enforcement of prohibition."

Don't forget the cost on our overburdened courts, jails and prisons. 
King and Mauer estimated that in 2001 the nation spent $1.36 billion 
"on the court processing of marijuana offenders." They also estimated 
the annual cost to incarcerate the 27,900 people imprisoned for 
marijuana offenses at $600 million. This does not include probation 
and parole costs related to marijuana prohibition convictions.

. Marijuana is not a gateway drug. Numerous studies, including a 
University of New Hampshire study released this month, dispute the 
oft-repeated chestnut that marijuana is a "gateway drug" that leads 
to use of other drugs. Here's the truth, put succinctly by the Drug 
Policy Alliance: "Most marijuana users never use any other illegal 
drug. Indeed, for the large majority of people, marijuana is a 
terminus rather than a gateway drug."

In fact, as AlterNet's Scott Morgan wrote, there's no such thing as a 
gateway drug: "The term was invented by hysterical anti-drug zealots 
for the specific purpose of linking marijuana with harmful outcomes 
that couldn't otherwise be established."

. Legal marijuana can be taxed. The nonpartisan state Legislative 
Analyst's Office concluded that if Prop 19 passes, "state and local 
governments could eventually collect hundreds of millions of dollars 
annually in additional revenues."

. Europe's experience shows that decriminalization won't lead to 
increased marijuana use. Cato Institute's Glenn Greenwald studied 
Portugal, which decriminalized all drug use in 2001: 
"Decriminalization has had no adverse effect on drug usage rates in 
Portugal, which, in numerous categories, are now among the lowest in 
the EU, particularly when compared with states with stringent 
criminalization regimes."

John P. Morgan, M.D. and Lynn Zimmer, Ph.D. noted Holland's 
experience: "Despite easy availability, marijuana prevalence among 12 
to 18 year olds in Holland is only 13.6 percent - well below the 38 
percent use-rate for American high school seniors."

. Current laws about recreational drugs are inconsistent. If your 
recreational drug of choice is alcohol or tobacco, you're in luck. 
You can enjoy that scotch and cigar without fear. If you prefer 
marijuana, which is safer than tobacco and alcohol, you risk arrest 
and imprisonment. This kind of inconsistency leads to widespread 
disregard for laws and this kind of rank unfairness is un-American.

Let's restore sanity and fairness to California's drug laws and 
pressure our federal lawmakers to follow our example. Let's heed the 
lessons of alcohol prohibition: We cannot afford to enforce marijuana 
prohibition and it's simply madness to subsidize violent drug cartels 
by banning a substance that is safer than other already legal 
recreational drugs like alcohol and tobacco. Let's use our heads, not 
our guts, and legalize recreational marijuana use.

Yes on Prop 19.

"Even if one takes every reefer madness allegation of the 
prohibitionists at face value, marijuana prohibition has done far 
more harm to far more people than marijuana ever could." - William F. 
Buckley, Jr. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake