Pubdate: Sat, 30 Oct 2010
Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)
Page: A26
Copyright: 2010 Los Angeles Times
Contact:  http://www.latimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/248
Cited: Proposition 19 http://yeson19.com/
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/opinion.htm (Opinion)
Bookmark: http://mapinc.org/find?272 (Proposition 19)

EXPERIMENTING WITH POT

The Broader Desire to Legalize Marijuana Is No Reason to Vote for a 
Badly Flawed Prop. 19.

Just days ago, Proposition 19's prospects seemed shaky. A Los Angeles 
Times/USC poll found likely voters opposing it by 51% to 39%, and the 
Yes on Prop. 19 campaign was short on funds. Then George Soros, the 
billionaire financier and philanthropist with a long-standing 
interest in loosening drug laws, resuscitated its chances with a 
last-minute $1-million donation.

In a statement outlining his support for ending marijuana 
prohibition, Soros said, "Regulating and taxing marijuana would 
simultaneously save taxpayers billions of dollars in enforcement and 
incarceration costs, while providing billions of dollars in revenue 
annually." Legalizing marijuana, he added, would "also reduce crime, 
violence and corruption associated with drug markets, and restore 
civil liberties lost by the mass incarceration of otherwise 
law-abiding citizens."

Well, maybe it would and maybe it wouldn't. But those broad, sweeping 
arguments for legalizing marijuana don't really speak to the numerous 
problems with this badly drafted ballot measure. The Times completely 
agrees that there are deep flaws in the nation's drug policy. We're 
even willing to concede that there might be benefits to ending the 
ban on pot. But a close look at Proposition 19 suggests that it is 
the wrong vehicle to accomplish that.

That the so-called drug war has been a disaster is widely 
acknowledged. Even the Obama administration has abandoned the 
terminology and places increasingly greater emphasis on prevention 
and treatment rather than incarceration of low-level drug users. 
Rather than making marijuana unavailable or reducing consumption, 
prohibition has led to the imprisonment of 750,000 people a year on 
possession charges, a black market that fuels gang rivalries and 
contributes to the violence among the Mexican drug cartels, and an 
unequal enforcement of drug laws that has fallen heaviest on black 
and Latino communities.

But Proposition 19 isn't the answer. Even voters who want marijuana 
legalized should beware of a measure that permits each of 
California's 478 cities and 58 counties to create local regulations 
regarding cultivation, possession and distribution. Plus, marijuana, 
though legal in California, would remain a prohibited Schedule I drug 
under federal law, setting up an inevitable conflict. Its strength 
and purity would not be overseen by federal drug authorities, and 
whether or not the much-hoped-for tax revenue comes in would depend 
on local governments -- the ones that choose to, that is -- setting 
up new and untried bureaucracies and enforcement agencies. Meanwhile, 
Californians, understandably confused by a crazy quilt of laws 
throughout the state, could actually end up more likely, not less, to 
face federal prosecution.

It's easy for residents of other states to encourage Californians to 
experiment with their safety on the broad, general principle that 
marijuana should no longer be illegal. But California voters have to 
look at the details. Opposition to the unsuccessful war on drugs is 
not sufficient reason to support a counterproductive solution such as 
Proposition 19. One has almost no relationship to the other.
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake