Pubdate: Sun, 27 Oct 2013
Source: Houston Chronicle (TX)
Copyright: 2013 Houston Chronicle Publishing Company Division
Contact:  http://www.chron.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/198
Page: A11

SURPRISING LESSONS EMERGE FOR PIONEER MARIJUANA STATE

LOS ANGELES - In the heart of Northern California's marijuana growing
region, the sheriff's office is inundated each fall with complaints
about the stench of marijuana plots or the latest expropriation of
public land by growers.

Its tranquil communities have been altered by the emergence of a
wealthy class of marijuana entrepreneurs, while nearly 500 miles away
in Los Angeles, officials have struggled to regulate an explosion of
medical marijuana shops.

But at a time when polls show widening public support for legalizing
marijuana - recreational marijuana is about to become legal in
Colorado and Washington, and voter initiatives are in the pipeline in
at least three others states - California's 17-year experience as the
first state to legalize medical marijuana offers surprising lessons,
experts say. Warnings unfounded

Warnings voiced against partial legalization - of civic disorder,
increased lawlessness and a drastic rise in other drug use - have
proved unfounded.

Instead, research suggests that marijuana has become an alcohol
substitute for younger people here and in other states that have
legalized medical marijuana, and that while driving under the
influence of any intoxicant is dangerous, driving after smoking
marijuana is less dangerous than after drinking alcohol.

Although marijuana is legal in California only for medical use, it is
widely available.

And though Los Angeles has struggled to regulate marijuana
dispensaries, communities that imposed early and strict regulations on
their operations have not experienced such disruption.

Imposing a local tax on medical marijuana, as Oakland, San Jose and
other communities have done, has not pushed consumers to drug dealers
as some analysts expected.

Presumably that is because it is so easy to get reliable and
high-quality marijuana legally.

Finally, for consumers, the era of legalized medical marijuana has
meant an expanded market and often cheaper prices. Majority want it
legal

Advocates for marijuana legalization see the moves in Colorado and
Washington as the start of a wave. A Gallup poll released last week
found that 58 percent of Americans think the drug should be made legal.

Still, even as public opinion in support of legalizing marijuana has
grown, opposition remains strong among many, including some law
enforcement organizations.

Consumers of marijuana are also benefiting. Competition among growers
has resulted in powerful strains, raising the levels of THC, the
active ingredient in marijuana, to as high as 25 percent, from 6
percent to 9 percent.

And because cities have competing dispensaries, prices have tended to
decrease or at least keep pace with street prices. At Harborside in
Oakland, marijuana buds run anywhere from $240 to $360 an ounce,
though patients tend to buy smaller amounts like an eighth or a
quarter of an ounce.

The array of products has exploded, and now includes not only smokable
buds but also hashish, marijuana-rich oils that are drunk or smoked,
edible cakes and other food products.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Matt