Pubdate: Mon, 13 Jun 2016
Source: Orange County Register, The (CA)
Copyright: 2016 The Orange County Register
Contact:  http://www.ocregister.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/321

PUSSYFOOTING ON POT

Folks in Placentia apparently haven't read that new study by 
researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis 
that suggests, as more states have legalized and decriminalized 
marijuana, underage use has declined.

After the Placentia City Council recently voted to allow some medical 
marijuana operations to open, the council unanimously reversed itself 
this week after residents complained.

"A near-constant theme was thinking of the city's children," the 
Register reported.

But, as that recent study, and common sense, seem to suggest, 
marijuana isn't the gateway drug prohibitionists make it out to be. 
In fact, legalization may reduce underage use as legal retailers are 
more interested in staying on the right side of the law than your 
local drug dealer.

Just as the end of Prohibition largely drove the mafia out of the 
beer industry, so, too, would legal marijuana, with a reasonably 
regulatory framework, likely largely drive out street pushers that 
don't care about age restrictions on use.

But the fact remains, legal marijuana is likely coming. Now is the 
time to carefully craft policies that allow access while maintaining 
the character of our communities. Procrastination won't help once 
statewide legalization occurs.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom