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.
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MAP posted-by: Matt