Pubdate: Thu, 12 Feb 2015
Source: USA Today (US)
Copyright: 2015 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc
Contact: http://mapinc.org/url/625HdBMl
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Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/466
Author: W. David Ball
Note: W. David Ball is assistant law professor at Santa Clara 
University and chair of the Public Safety Working Group for 
California's Blue Ribbon Commission on Marijuana Law and Policy.

POT BARS ARE THE SAFE CHOICE FOR MARIJUANA

Keep the Drug Where We Can Watch It

In Colorado and Alaska, when the states legalized recreational 
marijuana use, voters were sold on the idea that we weren't simply 
legalizing the drug; we were regulating it like alcohol. That selling 
point is likely to be part of 2016 campaigns to do the same in states 
from California to Maine.

But there is one way in which marijuana regulations have, so far, not 
modeled themselves on alcohol regulations. They do not allow 
on-premises consumption in commercial establishments such as bars and 
restaurants.

This is a mistake. The best way to limit diversion from the legal 
market to teens would be to shift all marijuana use, or at least as 
much as possible, to on-premises consumption.

Consider the alcohol market: We know that underage drinkers primarily 
get alcohol three ways, stealing from parents, at parties, and from 
asking older people to buy for them. Kids get alcohol from someone 
who bought it "to go" from a store. We could slash youth drinking by 
eliminating off-site consumption. If there were no liquor stores, no 
beer and wine in supermarkets, there would be a lot less diversion to 
teens. Only those with a license to serve alcohol could sell it, and 
consumption would take place in those establishments. Bars and 
restaurants risk losing liquor licenses and face criminal and civil 
penalties when they sell illegally.

Of course, it would be hard to ban to-go sales of alcohol now that 
millions of Americans are used to it. But marijuana is different. We 
are just now creating the pattern for legal marijuana use.

The most powerful objection to regulated recreational marijuana is 
the danger of teenagers getting access. This is of paramount 
importance - and not just because I'm a father of two. The 
prohibition we have now has proved to be a lousy way to keep 
marijuana out of anyone's hands.

In a regulated market where all marijuana is purchased to go, we'll 
have the same problems that we have with alcohol.

But what if you could buy marijuana only for immediate consumption? 
Businesses that sold it would check ID and only the buyer could use 
it, just as bars avoid serving underage patrons today.

What of the second-most common argument against legalization that it 
would increase driving under the influence of drugs? All the ways we 
have successfully limited drunken driving apply to drugged driving.

There are technical issues to be worked out. It is unclear whether 
states would need to change smoking laws or whether states would 
allow only vaporizers, drinks or edibles. Regardless, as states seek 
to regulate marijuana like alcohol, they need to learn the lessons of 
alcohol as well.

Allowing off-site consumption of marijuana, as is the rule today, 
maximizes the potential for diversion to unauthorized users. It's the 
one alcohol regulation we shouldn't be copying.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom