Pubdate: Tue, 28 Jan 2014
Source: Tulsa World (OK)
Copyright: 2014 World Publishing Co.
Contact:  http://www.tulsaworld.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/463
Author: Dylan Goforth

LEGAL POT PUSHED AFTER POLL SHOWS PUBLIC SUPPORT

During her time in office, Sen. Constance Johnson has proposed a 
number of bills aimed at easing Oklahoma's strict marijuana laws, and 
this year is no different.

Senate Bill 2116, proposed by Johnson, D-Oklahoma City, would 
legalize a small amount of "personal use" marijuana - up to an ounce 
- - as well as set up rules for the sale and growth of the product.

Although 20 states now have legalized marijuana for medical use, 
Johnson's bill is unlikely to pass.

A 2013 poll conducted by SoonerPoll indicated that 75 percent of 
Tulsans were in favor of legalization of medical marijuana and that 
67 percent were in favor of decriminalization for recreational use.

Support crossed party lines; the poll found that 53.1 percent of 
Republicans, 60.3 percent of Democrats and 64.5 percent of 
independents favored decriminalization.

The effect on the prison population would be immediate, said Neill 
Franklin, executive director of Silver Spring, Md.-based Law 
Enforcement Against Prohibition. Franklin, a former police officer, 
was in Oklahoma last week speaking about what he considers the 
benefits of decriminalization.

"It won't just be the people who won't be in jail because of a 
marijuana-possession arrest," Franklin said. "Once you push something 
underground, like marijuana or alcohol, we drive it into a criminal 
marketplace, and other crimes ensue."

Franklin noted that "we have drug addicts who, because we provide 
them no legal means to acquire the drugs they're addicted to, they 
resort to crime to fund it. They break into homes, rob you on the 
street. ... This is the problem of prohibition.

"For those addicted to alcohol, you rarely hear about them committing 
crimes to feed their addiction."

Data provided by the Tulsa Police Department show 689 arrests in the 
city for possession of marijuana in 2013.

Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation statistics show that 
possession of marijuana "constituted 49.7 percent of the total drug 
abuse arrests in 2012," the latest year such statewide data were available.

Possession crimes can net up to a year in jail, although a first 
offense likely will end in a court citation and probation, Tulsa 
Police Officer Leland Ashley said.

Tulsa County District Attorney Tim Harris is opposed to 
decriminalization. Where Franklin has pointed to the illegality of 
marijuana possession creating a public health and safety hazard, 
Harris says he sees the opposite.

"The problem we have is that in the '60s, the THC 
(tetrahydrocannabino - the psychoactive component of marijuana) 
content was a small amount," Harris said. "The marijuana being grown 
and shipped now ... the THC content now is almost 20 percent. One 
joint someone is smoking now is a far different drug with a far more 
potent effect on human physiology than it was in the 1960s."

And, Harris believes, decriminalization will lead to more impaired drivers.

"In Colorado (where personal marijuana use was recently legalized), 
what are they going to do with impaired-driving accidents and 
injuries?" he asked. "Are they just turning the other cheek toward 
those impaired-driving cases?"
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom