Pubdate: Wed, 22 Oct 2014
Source: Washington Post (DC)
Copyright: 2014 The Washington Post Company
Contact: http://mapinc.org/url/mUgeOPdZ
Website: http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/491
Page: A18

THE POT RUSH

With Marijuana Decriminalized in the District, Why Not Pause and Take Stock?

MOST VOTES have yet to be cast in the District's referendum on 
legalizing marijuana, but the D.C. Council is already making plans on 
how to regulate sales. The premature move is in keeping with the 
heedless rush to put the city's imprimatur on use of a drug whose 
impacts are still not fully known. It is not too late for more 
prudent judgment to prevail; voters on Nov. 4 could slow the push for 
legalization by voting no on Initiative 71.

The ballot initiative to be decided in the Nov. 4 general election 
would make it lawful for a person 21 years of age or older to possess 
up to two ounces of marijuana for personal use, to grow up to six 
plants at home and to transfer without payment up to one ounce of 
marijuana to another person 21 years or older. Because of the 
District's restrictions on what is subject to ballot approval, the 
initiative would not allow for sale of marijuana, creating a 
situation where having marijuana would be legal but getting it might 
require illegal acts.

A joint committee hearing will be held Oct. 30 on legislation to 
establish a taxation and regulation infrastructure for marijuana 
production and sale. Vincent B. Orange (D-At Large), chairman of the 
business and consumer committee that will hold the hearing with the 
finance committee, said the city needs to be prepared to move forward 
if the initiative passes, which, based on polls, he believes will be 
the case, and if Congress doesn't intervene, about which he won't 
hazard a guess.

Much of the District's debate about Initiative 71 has centered on 
matters of race and social justice. That was a serious issue when 
marijuana possession was subject to criminal prosecution and African 
Americans accounted for an outsize proportion of those arrested. But 
since decriminalization went into effect in July, possession is now 
subject to just a $25 fine, among the lowest in the nation. As The 
Post's Marc Fisher recently detailed, some leaders in the African 
American community worry that legalization would not keep more young 
blacks out of jail because a more readily available drug could lead 
young people to harder drugs. "Scratch the surface of most homicides 
and rape cases, and the perpetrators were high on drugs, including 
marijuana," said Arthur Burnett of the National African American Drug 
Policy Coalition.

We are not in the Reefer Madness school of marijuana prohibition. We 
favored decriminalization. But the drug can have harmful effects; Its 
active ingredient has been linked to memory problems, impaired 
thinking and weakened immune systems. And we question whether it is 
possible to legalize the drug for adults without sending a message to 
youth that its use is risk-free.

By waiting, the District would benefit from ongoing scientific 
research as well as the experience of states that only recently have 
legalized marijuana. It is easier to let a genie out of the bottle 
than to try to stuff one back in.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom