Pubdate: Mon, 03 Feb 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

POT LEGALIZATION IN OKLAHOMA PUSHED AFTER POLL SHOWS 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: Matt