Pubdate: Fri, 09 Sep 2005
Source: Minnesota Daily (MN Edu)
Copyright: 2005 Minnesota Daily
Contact:  http://www.mndaily.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1280
Author: Ronald Fraser
Cited: National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws ( www.norml.org )
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization)

DOES MINNESOTA NEED A MARIJUANA SALES TAX?

Minnesotans are, in effect, paying for Washington's marijuana prohibition 
policies.

State lawmakers recently beat back a huge budget deficit with a new 75 cent 
per pack cigarette tax hike worth about $202 million a year. Thinking 
ahead, here is how a new study can help state officials balance the budget 
next time around.

Minnesotans spend about $91 million each year to enforce state and local 
marijuana laws, money, Jon B. Gettman, a senior fellow at George Mason 
University's School of Public Policy, finds is mostly wasted.

Gettman's study, titled, "Crimes of Indescretion: Marijuana Arrests in the 
United States," was prepared for the National Organization for the Reform 
of Marijuana Laws.

"Marijuana arrests," says Gettman, "are instruments of a supply- reduction 
policy." But, he adds, "The doubling of marijuana arrests in the 1990s has 
produced the opposite of the intended effect in every major indicator. An 
increase in arrests should produce a reduction in use and the availability 
of marijuana. However, during the 1990s both use and availability increased."

Marijuana possession arrests in the U.S. totaled 260,000 in 1990. By 2003, 
that figure topped 662,000.

But even failed public policies can cost a bundle.

Who pays? Minnesotans are, in effect, paying for Washington's marijuana 
prohibition policies. "The use of criminal law to control the availability 
and use of marijuana," says Gettman, "is a federal policy that is dependent 
on local law enforcement for its implementation." And state and local costs 
quickly add up.

Boston University economics professor Jeffrey A. Miron estimates that 
nationally, state and local officials spend about $5 billion per year 
enforcing marijuana laws. Minnesota's share of this multi-billion dollar 
hand-out to Uncle Sam looks like this: $37 million for police services; $48 
million for judicial services; and $6 million for correctional services.

What are the individual costs? The thousands of people arrested on 
marijuana possession charges in Minnesota each year -- especially teenagers 
- -- pay extra. "Marijuana arrests," Gettman stresses, "make criminals out of 
otherwise law-abiding citizens. Indeed the primary consequence of marijuana 
arrests is the introduction of hundreds of thousands of young people into 
the criminal justice system."

Once a teenager has a criminal record, a number of other penalties often 
follow. In Minnesota, for example, employers can ask job applicants about 
arrests, even arrests not leading to a conviction, and a criminal record 
may bar a person from public learning.

Taking a close look at marijuana arrest patterns, Gettman notes that young 
people are disproportionately targeted. "The brunt of marijuana law 
enforcement," he says, "falls on both adolescents and the younger adults -- 
on teenagers." Nationally, almost 17 percent of all people arrested for 
possession of marijuana were between 15 and 17 years old. Another 26 
percent were 18-20 years old.

And what do Minnesotans get for these financial and personal costs? In 2002 
there were 5,884 marijuana passion arrests in Minnesota but the number of 
users keeps going up. While 5.3 percent of Minnesota's population was 
estimated to be monthly users in 1999, in 2002 the estimate stood at 6.3 
percent.

Nationally, monthly users went from 4.9 percent in 1999 to 6.2 percent in 2002.

The basic problem, says Gettman, is that the "overall supply of marijuana 
in the U.S. is far too diversified to be controlled by law enforcement."

If current marijuana policies are both costly and ineffective, what is the 
next best strategy? Because marijuana is so widely used, Gettman recommends 
treating marijuana like a pharmaceutical product subject to Food and Drug 
Administration testing and regulatory requirements.

By shifting to a policy that treats and taxes marijuana like tobacco and 
alcohol, Minnesotans could gain the following benefits: a decrease in 
illegal activity surrounding drug sales; government control of marijuana 
quality; better control of underage access to marijuana; and the removal of 
the profit motive that attracts sellers, including a substantial number of 
teenage sellers who, most frequently, supply other teenagers.

On top of that, Miron estimates a marijuana sales tax would replace the $91 
million a year Minnesota taxpayers are now spending to enforce 
unenforceable laws, with a new revenue pipeline bringing in $14 million a 
year. And that $105 million would go a long way toward fending off future 
budget deficits.

Ronald Fraser writes for the DKT Liberty Project.
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MAP posted-by: Elizabeth Wehrman