Pubdate: Tue, 20 Nov 2012
Source: Daily Trojan (U of Southern CA Edu)
Copyright: 2012 Daily Trojan
Contact:  http://www.dailytrojan.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1162
Author: Ryan Townsend
Note: Ryan Townsend is a sophomore majoring in business 
administration. His column "The Blame Game" runs Tuesdays.

MARIJUANA DEBATE CLOUDS REALITY

The arguments claiming that decriminalizing marijuana will end the 
influence of Mexican drug cartels and bring in billions of dollars in 
tax revenue are incessantly echoed in America - and both were 
strategically used this year to successfully convince voters to 
legalize the drug in Washington and Colorado.

Students, especially, have been quick to embrace these arguments and 
are at the forefront of the movement to end the prohibition of 
marijuana. Young adults ages 18 to 29 are twice as likely to favor 
legalization than adults over 60, according to a 2011 Gallup poll.

But the reasoning for both of these talking points is faulty and 
unsound, and ends up distracting American voters from the negative 
consequences of recreational marijuana use.

First and foremost, the notion that legalizing marijuana will stop 
drug violence in Mexico and along the U.S. border is fatuous. The 
Office of National Drug Control and Policy estimates that drug 
cartels derive 61 percent of their revenue from marijuana. The idea 
that drug cartels will be complacent with a dented bottom line is 
inconceivable.

Though this number is certainly significant for cartels' bottom 
lines, it also leaves a gigantic portion of revenue from dealing 
other illicit drugs unaddressed. Stanford University professor Keith 
Humphreys determined that if marijuana was legalized across the 
United States, cartels would adapt and make as much profit on heroin 
and methamphetamine individually as they would on marijuana. The same 
projection shows cocaine making up more than one-third of cartels' 
revenues. Thus, cartels could respond to legalized marijuana by 
focusing on moving harder drugs, such as heroin, meth and cocaine. 
Police forces both inside and outside the United States will have to 
continue to crack down on drug cartels, efforts which will continue 
to cost taxpayers.

It is also commonly argued that as America's most valuable cash crop, 
marijuana will bring in a large amount of tax revenue for the U.S. 
government. In 2006, ABC News reported that with "a value of $35.8 
billion, marijuana exceeds the combined value of corn and wheat." But 
this figure was calculated - in a report published by Jon Gettman, 
director of the Coalition for Rescheduling Cannabis - based on an 
estimated street value of $1,600 per pound. Once legalized, the price 
of marijuana could decrease by 80 percent, according to the 
nonpartisan RAND Drug Policy Research Center. Thus, many boasted 
revenue projections could be grossly exaggerated.

Nevertheless, both of these arguments - that legalizing marijuana 
will end the war on drugs and bring in billions of dollars in tax 
revenue - are constantly used to distract from the negative 
consequences of marijuana use. For students, these consequences are 
especially pertinent. Research shows that teenagers who smoke pot on 
a regular basis consistently do worse in school and are twice as 
likely to drop out of high school. A CBS article published in August 
said that smoking marijuana as a teenager corresponds to an average 
IQ drop of eight points - which lowered the substance-using student's 
IQ rate in comparison to the average student's by double-digit 
percentage points.

Even for older users, there are significant side effects to 
recreational marijuana use. A landmark study published in February by 
Dalhousie University in Canada found that using marijuana within 
three hours of driving doubles the likelihood of causing a car crash. 
Additionally, marijuana contains 50-70 percent more carcinogenic 
hydrocarbons than tobacco smoke, potentially increasing users' 
chances of developing cancer. And in September, USC scientists 
published a study linking recreational marijuana use among males to a 
dangerous form of testicular cancer.

Whether any of these side effects justify criminalizing marijuana is 
certainly open to question, but it is imperative that students are 
wise enough to question common talking points and focus on the true 
consequences of legalization. There is no doubt that current college 
students' reasoning will play an instrumental role in the future of 
America's drug policies. The way our generation handles this first 
hurdle will have long-reaching implications for decades to come.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom