Pubdate: Wed, 02 Nov 2016
Source: Wall Street Journal (US)
Copyright: 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Contact:  http://www.wsj.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/487

A BRAVE NEW WEED

The costs so far from marijuana legalization are higher than advertised.

Marijuana is now legal in 25 states for medicinal purposes and in four
for recreational use. Voters in another five have a chance on Nov. 8
to legalize the retail consumption of pot, but the evidence rolling in
from these real-time experiments should give voters pause to consider
the consequences.

In 2012 Colorado and Washington voters legalized recreational pot,
followed by Alaska and Oregon two years later. Initiatives this year
in California, Arizona, Nevada, Maine and Massachusetts would allow
businesses to sell and market pot to adults age 21 and older.

Adults could possess up to one ounce (more in Maine) and grow six
marijuana plants. Public consumption would remain prohibited, as would
driving under the influence. Marijuana would be taxed at rates from
3.75% in Massachusetts to 15% in the western states, which would
license and regulate retailers.

Marijuana is a Schedule I drug under the federal Controlled Substances
Act of 1970, which prohibits states from regulating possession, use,
distribution and sale of narcotics. However, the Justice Department in
2013 announced it wouldn't enforce the law in states that legalize
pot. Justice also promised to monitor and document the outcomes, which
it hasn't done. But someone should, because evidence from Colorado and
Washington compiled by the nonprofit Smart Approaches to Marijuana
suggests that legalization isn't achieving what supporters promised.

One problem is that legalization and celebrity glamorization have
removed any social stigma from pot and it is now ubiquitous. Minors
can get pot as easily a six pack. Since 2011 marijuana consumption
among youth rose by 9.5% in Colorado and 3.2% in Washington even as it
dropped 2.2% nationwide. The Denver Post reports that a
"disproportionate share" of marijuana businesses are in low-income and
minority communities. Many resemble candy stores with lollipops, gummy
bears and brownies loaded with marijuana's active ingredient known as
THC.

The science of how THC affects young minds is still evolving. However,
studies have shown that pot use during adolescence can shave off
several IQ points and increase the risk for schizophrenic breaks. One
in six kids who try the drug will become addicted, a higher rate than
for alcohol. Pot today is six times more potent than 30 years ago, so
it's easier to get hooked and high.

Employers have also reported having a harder time finding workers who
pass drug tests. Positive workplace drug tests for marijuana have
increased 178% nationwide since 2012. The construction company GE
Johnson says it is recruiting construction workers from other states
because it can't find enough in Colorado to pass a drug test.

Honest legalizers admitted that these social costs might increase but
said they'd be offset by fewer arrests and lower law enforcement
costs. Yet arrests of black and Hispanic youth in Colorado for
pot-related offenses have soared 58% and 29%, respectively, while
falling 8% for whites.

The share of pot-related traffic deaths has roughly doubled in
Washington and increased by a third in Colorado since legalization,
and in the Centennial State pot is now involved in more than one of
five traffic fatalities. Calls to poison control for overdoses have
jumped 108% in Colorado and 68% in Washington since 2012.

Colorado Attorney General Cynthia Coffman has said that "criminals are
still selling on the black market," in part because state taxes make
legal marijuana pricier than on the street. Drug cartels have moved to
grow marijuana in the states or have switched to trafficking in more
profitable drugs like heroin.

One irony is that a Big Pot industry is developing even as tobacco
smokers are increasingly ostracized. The Arcview Group projects that
the pot market could triple over four years to $22 billion. Pot
retailers aren't supposed to market specifically to kids, though they
can still advertise on the radio or TV during, say, a college football
game. Tobacco companies have been prohibited from advertising on TV
since 1971.

The legalization movement is backed by the likes of George Soros and
Napster co-founder Sean Parker, and this year they are vastly
outspending opponents. No wonder U.S. support for legalizing marijuana
has increased to 57% from 32% a decade ago, according to the Pew
Research Center.

We realize it's declasse to resist this cultural imperative, and maybe
voters think the right to get high when you want is worth the social
and health costs of millions of more stoners. Then again, since four
states have volunteered to be guinea pigs, maybe other states should
wait and see if these negative trends continue.
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MAP posted-by: Matt