Pubdate: Mon, 06 Oct 2014
Source: New York Times (NY)
Copyright: 2014 The New York Times Company
Contact: http://www.nytimes.com/ref/membercenter/help/lettertoeditor.html
Website: http://www.nytimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/298

YES TO MARIJUANA BALLOT MEASURES

Alaska, Oregon and the District of Columbia Should Legalize Pot

The decision by California voters in 1996 to legalize medical 
marijuana produced a wave of similar initiatives around the country. 
Less than two decades later, over half the states allow at least 
limited medical use. Now it looks as though recreational use of the 
drug may follow the same path.

In 2012, Washington State and Colorado legalized recreational 
marijuana. This November, voters in Alaska, Oregon and the District 
of Columbia will decide whether to do the same - effectively 
disregarding the misguided federal ban on a drug that is far less 
dangerous than alcohol. Decades of arresting people for buying, 
selling and using marijuana have hurt more than helped society, and 
minority communities have been disproportionately affected by the 
harsh criminal penalties of prohibition.

Since Alaska, Oregon and the District of Columbia already allow 
medical marijuana, taking the next step makes good sense. There are 
some differences in their proposed initiatives, but they are all 
worthy of passage.

ALASKA Ballot Measure 2 would make the use and purchase of marijuana 
legal for those 21 and older, create a marijuana control board and 
tax the drug at $50 per ounce wholesale. It is already legal for 
Alaskans to possess small amounts of marijuana in their homes, and 
surveys indicate that 18 percent of Alaskans smoke marijuana. Ballot 
Measure 2 would mean that Alaskans could buy it from a store instead 
of resorting to the black market.

OREGON Measure 91 would also set a minimum age of 21. It would give 
the Oregon Liquor Control Commission the power to regulate marijuana 
as it does alcohol, and would direct it to review tax rates 
regularly. The tax - initially set at $35 per ounce for flowers and 
$10 per ounce for leaves - should allow for prices low enough to 
compete with street dealers. Since it is already extremely easy for 
adults in Oregon to obtain medical marijuana cards (almost 65,000 
Oregonians have one), recreational legalization will not be a big 
change. As The Oregonian editorialized in August, the measure would 
"be worth supporting for reasons of honesty and convenience alone."

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Initiative 71 would repeal all criminal and 
civil penalties for personal possession of marijuana and allow 
limited, private cultivation of the drug. People 21 and older could 
grow up to six plants at home and give away up to one ounce. Because 
the District of Columbia Home Rule Act does not allow a tax to be 
imposed by referendum, Initiative 71 would not set up a mechanism for 
regulating retail sales of the drug.

Opponents of legalization warn that states are embarking on a risky 
experiment. But the sky over Colorado has not fallen, and prohibition 
has proved to be a complete failure. It's time to bring the marijuana 
market out into the open and end the injustice of arrests and 
convictions that have devastated communities.

Careful regulation of the drug could very well make it safer to 
consume, and proper taxation could bring in new revenue for states. 
This year, from January through June, Colorado collected about $18.9 million.

Ideally, the federal government would repeal the ban on marijuana, so 
states could set their own policies without worrying about the 
possibility of a crackdown on citizens violating federal law. Even 
though a majority of Americans favor legalization, Congress shows no 
sign of budging. So it's better for the states to take the lead than 
to wait for an epiphany on Capitol Hill that may never come.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom