Pubdate: Sun, 03 Nov 2013
Source: Las Vegas Review-Journal (NV)
Copyright: 2013 Creators Syndicate
Contact: http://www.reviewjournal.com/about/print/press/letterstoeditor.html
Website: http://www.lvrj.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/233
Author: Steve Chapman, Creators Syndicate

SOCIETY WON'T GO TO POT WITH LEGAL MARIJUANA

In 1996, as California voters considered whether to make theirs the 
first state to legalize the use of marijuana for medical purposes, 
they were warned that they were on the verge of creating a grim 
wasteland from which they might never escape.

Brad Gates, sheriff of Orange County and head of a group opposing the 
ballot measure, called it an "irresponsible" change that would 
unleash uncontrollable drug use and produce a "nightmare for law 
enforcement." President Bill Clinton opposed it, and his drug czar 
called it a "cruel hoax." But the measure won anyway.

That was 17 years ago, and today, it's clear that the critics were 
under the influence of some hallucinogenic substance. As a way of 
destroying the California way of life, Proposition 215 has been a bust.

In one respect, the opponents were right: The program is so lenient 
that getting medical marijuana is easy for anyone claiming a medical 
need, from chronic pain to insomnia to anxiety. A CNN reporter said 
it took him 20 minutes to get the required card and recommendation 
from a doctor, with no physical exam. Some physicians advertise their 
willingness to certify patients for cannabis.

So the effect is pretty close to legalizing pot for all adults who 
want it. But the apparent consequences of this outwardly drastic 
change amount to a nonevent.

As The New York Times reported Oct. 27, "Warnings voiced against 
partial legalization - of civic disorder, increased lawlessness and a 
drastic rise in other drug use - have proved unfounded." By now, 
there's a stack of research indicating that allowing therapeutic use 
of cannabis has had no notable ill effects.

One fear was that the law would encourage kids to smoke weed by 
suggesting it's not dangerous. But a study of California and other 
states by D. Mark Anderson of Montana State University, Benjamin 
Hansen of the University of Oregon and Daniel Rees of the University 
of Colorado-Denver reached the conclusion that "the legalization of 
medical marijuana was not accompanied by increases in the use of 
marijuana or other substances such as alcohol and cocaine among high 
school students. Interestingly, several of our estimates suggest that 
marijuana use actually declined."

Another risk was that the state would be overrun with stoned 
motorists weaving randomly down the highways, wreaking death and 
destruction. But the same scholars, in a separate investigation of 
medical marijuana states, detected just the opposite effect: a 
reduction in overall traffic fatalities of at least 8 percent in the 
first year.

They suspect that some people switch from alcohol to cannabis - and 
that pot smokers are either less likely to drive while impaired or, 
if they do drive, are less likely to crash.

The epidemic of crime that cops expected failed to materialize. The 
state's crime rate has fallen by nearly 40 percent since 1996, and 
violent crime has been cut in half. Crime fell nationally as well, 
but not quite as much as in California. The same pattern holds even 
if you look solely at the period after 2004, when dispensaries became common.

None of this has changed the tune of those who were against it all 
along. In 2009, the California Police Chiefs Association put out a 
report repeating the litany of horrors, including the allegation that 
"minors who are exposed to marijuana at dispensaries or residences 
where marijuana plants are grown may be subtly influenced to regard 
it as a generally legal drug, and inclined to sample it." Or they may not.

The group says that "many violent crimes have been committed that can 
be traced to the proliferation of marijuana dispensaries" and that 
"criminals in search of prey" are "commonly encountered outside" 
them. Yet somehow, the Golden State has gotten dramatically safer.

Some areas have more such shops and the resulting traffic than 
neighbors prefer, which also happens with liquor stores and 
convenience stores. But even alongside the dens of iniquity, trouble 
is not the norm. A study by UCLA professors Nancy Kepple and Bridget 
Freisthler found no evidence that marijuana outlets generate crime in 
the surrounding areas.

All this news is a good omen for states that are considering 
legalization of recreational use of cannabis, something Colorado and 
Washington embraced last year. It's also reassuring for residents of 
Illinois, which will allow medical use starting Jan. 1, and Nevada, 
where dispensaries should start opening their doors in 2014. But if 
you're expecting a more liberal policy to be a big deal, you're in 
for a letdown.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom