Pubdate: Sun, 11 Jan 2015
Source: Arizona Republic (Phoenix, AZ)
Column: One on One
Copyright: 2015 The Arizona Republic
Contact: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/sendaletter.html
Website: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/24
Authors: Linda Valdez and Robert Leger

TOKE IT OR BAN IT: SHOULD ARIZONA LEGALIZE POT?

A state legislator has once again introduced a bill to legalize 
recreational use of marijuana in Arizona. Advocates also are 
mobilizing to put the issue on the ballot in 2016.

They point to the example of Colorado and Washington to support their 
cause. But is full legalization of marijuana in Arizona a good idea? 
Editorial writer Linda Valdez and opinions editor Robert Leger debate 
the issue.

VALDEZ: I'll be perfectly clear: I don't smoke pot. I don't think 
young people should use a substance that can negatively impact brain 
development and initiative. But I don't think kids should drink 
alcohol, either.

When it comes to adults, however, it's simply ridiculous to keep 
recreational marijuana illegal. Prohibition didn't work with alcohol, 
and it isn't working with marijuana.

The demand for recreational pot is met by vicious criminal syndicates 
that grow rich by providing a steady supply. The Border Patrol's 
Tucson Sector says agents seized a "variety of drugs" in fiscal 2014, 
"primarily 971,180 pounds of marijuana." Imagine how much reached the 
streets - and imagine how contaminated it probably was with 
pesticides and other nasty residue.

LEGER: It's easy to say prohibition isn't working. But shouldn't we 
also ask if legalization works? The early returns from Colorado 
suggest it is no panacea.

In Colorado, for instance, traffic fatalities involving drivers 
testing positive for marijuana doubled from 2007 to 2012. The 
majority of DUI arrests involve marijuana. The state now ranks fourth 
for pot use among teens. Nor is Colorado marijuana staying in the 
Rockies. Oklahoma and Nebraska sued because so much pot is 
overflowing their borders.

But we don't have to look that far to see the drawbacks of 
legalization. By the narrowest of margins, Arizona voters approved 
medical marijuana. Some people legitimately in pain appear to have 
been helped. But as in other states, for most users it was just a 
backdoor way to toke legally while relieving their "anxiety" or other 
vague ailments.

We still haven't figured out how to accurately assess driving under 
the influence for medical users. Or the many job issues that come 
with pot. Legalizing recreational use just makes those issues worse.

VALDEZ: As you point out, we are going to have to resolve the issue 
of driving under the influence anyway. What's more, questions about 
employee use of cannabis are far more complicated with medical pot 
than recreational.

Colorado's mistakes can help Arizona do it right. Their projections 
about tax revenue were overly optimistic, and the lower tax rate for 
medical marijuana made that option more attractive, for example.

But there will be sizable tax revenues and reduced law-enforcement 
costs associated with legalization, and that can help our 
cash-strapped state. If the Legislature designs a system - far 
preferable to an etched-in-stone initiative - lawmakers can mandate 
that some percent of the tax proceeds go to a campaign to discourage 
use among kids, much like those "smelly puking habit" anti-tobacco 
ads of the mid-1990s.

I'd suggest a simple question on the sides of school buses: "Are you 
stoned or just stupid?"

LEGER: There's one thing we can agree on: Legislation is preferable 
to an unchangeable initiative. But even better is no legalization at all.

Evolving science is showing that marijuana is not a harmless 
substance. It's not the good-for-a-laugh drug that propelled Cheech 
and Chong to stardom in our youth, or that drives the current film 
"Inherent Vice."

The marijuana being sold in Colorado is more potent than the 
black-market drug of the past. That's why edible pot - brownies, 
cookies and the such - put so many people in the hospital. A study 
published by the National Academy of Sciences found an 8-point drop 
in IQ for people who started using marijuana in their teens and 
continued into adulthood. That's a lot of lost potential.

It's not worth collecting a few additional tax dollars. Legalizing 
recreational use of marijuana is a bad idea.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom