Pubdate: Wed, 01 Jul 2015 Source: Register-Guard, The (OR) Copyright: 2015 The Register-Guard Contact: http://www.registerguard.com/web/opinion/#contribute-a-letter Website: http://www.registerguard.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/362 POT PROHIBITION ENDS New freedom for marijuana brings responsibility According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, about one in eight Oregonians smoke marijuana at least once a month. That means more than 300,000 Oregonians are free of a cause for fear today. Those people no longer have to worry about being arrested for marijuana possession. The most important provision of Measure 91, approved by the voters last November, takes effect today, ending pot prohibition. As with alcohol prohibition, the end of marijuana prohibition doesn't mean that anything goes. It will still be possible to get into a lot of trouble with the law for any number of pot-related crimes, ranging from providing marijuana to someone under 21 to growing more than four marijuana plants without a commercial license. But no one is going to be charged with a crime for having a few joints in the glove compartment, or a few ounces in the kitchen drawer. A source of anxiety - usually low-level, but occasionally spiking into paranoia and panic - has been relieved. The danger of having one's life ruined, or at least greatly complicated, by a pot bust has been removed. But presuming that the national survey, conducted by the U.S. Public Health Service, is correct, seven of eight Oregonians rarely or never smoke marijuana. Most people who voted for Measure 91 had little or no direct stake in ending marijuana prohibition. They supported legalization for more abstract reasons - they sought to change law-enforcement priorities, or hoped to divert black-market revenue toward public purposes, or embraced a live-and-let-live philosophy. And the number of Oregonians who opposed Measure 91 greatly exceeds the number of regular or occasional pot smokers. The pot-smoking minority thus owes its new freedom to a larger group for whom the end of prohibition is a matter of principle rather than self-interest. And the pot smokers who celebrate their new freedom today are outnumbered by those who would prefer that prohibition remained in effect. This means that victory over marijuana prohibition is to some degree provisional. It's hard to envision an outright repeal of Measure 91, but if Oregonians decide they made a mistake by legalizing marijuana or don't like the effects they see as a result of their decision, tighter and more punitive restrictions could follow. Smoking marijuana in public places, for example, is against the law - and public places are defined broadly to include just about anywhere a person can be seen. The majority has a legal right to expect that pot smokers will show a degree of common courtesy and discretion. The laws against providing marijuana to minors are tough, and will be toughened if evidence points to a post-Measure 91 increase in pot use among young people. As with alcohol, it will be possible for marijuana smokers to get into serious trouble by getting behind the wheel of a car. The freedom granted by Measure 91 is subject to the will of the majority. Those with the most reason to celebrate an end to marijuana prohibition would do well to bear in mind that with freedom comes responsibility. - --- MAP posted-by: Matt