Pubdate: Mon, 22 May 2006
Source: Minneapolis Star-Tribune (MN)
Copyright: 2006 Chicago Tribune Company
Contact: http://www.startribune.com/dynamic/feedback/form.php?opinion=1
Website: http://www.startribune.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/266
Author: Steve Chapman, Chicago Tribune
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization)

ONCE WE STOP TREATING DRUG USE AS A CRIME

Many states and nations have decriminalized marijuana and -- guess 
what? -- the sky didn't fall.

Recently, Mexican President Vicente Fox vetoed a bill passed by the 
Mexican Congress that would have removed criminal penalties for 
people caught with small amounts of marijuana or other drugs. This 
came after the Bush administration vigorously complained, predicting 
it would encourage Americans to pour southward as "drug tourists." 
But that option is now off the table for the moment. So Americans who 
want to get high without fear of going to jail will have to go some 
other place where cannabis can be consumed with impunity. Like Nebraska.

As it happens, no fewer than 11 states on this side of the border 
have made the decision not to bother filling their prisons with 
recreational potheads. Among them are not only states like California 
and Oregon, which you might expect, but states like North Carolina 
and Mississippi, which you might not. About 100 million Americans 
live in places where pot has been decriminalized.

Maybe there are planeloads of college kids who travel to Maine or 
Minnesota to spend each spring break hitting a bong, but if so, it's 
a well-kept secret. In fact, the most noticeable thing about states 
that have decriminalized marijuana is that they're not -- noticeable, that is.

Looking at these places, says University of Maryland economist Peter 
Reuter, "You can't tell the difference from how many people use 
marijuana." A 1999 report commissioned by the National Academy of 
Sciences found "there is little evidence that decriminalization of 
marijuana use necessarily leads to a substantial increase in marijuana use."

Not everyone is in complete agreement. Rosalie Pacula, codirector of 
the Drug Policy Research Center at the RAND Corp., a California think 
tank, says her research indicates decriminalization does tend to lead 
to higher use. But by her measures, the effect is small.

Laws are only a modest factor in the decision to use drugs or not -- 
just as they are only a modest factor in the decision to smoke 
cigarettes or not. Most people don't even know if they live in a 
decriminalized state.

The evidence from abroad is not terribly scary either. The 
Netherlands has gone beyond decriminalizing pot: For years, the 
government has allowed the sale of small amounts of pot through 
special cafes known as "coffee shops." Yet easy accessibility hasn't 
made the drug any more tempting to the average person. Dutch adults 
and teenagers both are less likely to use cannabis than Americans.

So it's hard to see why the United States should mind if Mexico 
decides to go easy on potheads. A good deal of evidence indicates 
that the law wouldn't make much difference in the behavior of either 
Mexicans or Americans.

There are some clear advantages, though. By freeing cops from 
focusing on recreational marijuana users, governments can reallocate 
more resources to serious crime. One study found that since it began 
treating pot possession like jaywalking in 1976, California has saved 
at least $1 billion.

Of course, the Mexican measure would have decriminalized possession 
of other drugs, too, including heroin, cocaine and amphetamines -- 
something no American state has done. Wouldn't anything so drastic 
produce an explosion of hard drug use?

Actually, no. Italy, Spain and Portugal have decriminalized personal 
use of all drugs, not just cannabis. But liberal laws don't 
necessarily lead to liberal behavior. Spain has one of the highest 
cocaine use rates in Europe -- but lower than the rate in Britain, 
which has a much stricter approach.

Italy, by contrast, is about average for the continent, but Portugal 
is well below average. On heroin, all three are on the high side, 
though not dramatically so.

That fact, however, may not reveal anything about the effects of drug 
policies. It's easy to assume that when you change the law, you 
change behavior with respect to drugs. But the process may actually 
go in the opposite direction. Spaniards may not tend to use more 
cocaine because they have a permissive law; they may have a 
permissive law because Spaniards tend to use more cocaine.

States and nations don't seem to lose anything when they stop 
treating drug use as a crime. But there are gains to be had: more 
police time to combat violent criminals, less need to build prisons, 
and fewer young lives scarred by arrest and imprisonment for behavior 
that does no harm.

Some people are happy with Mexico exactly as it is. But it just might 
benefit from becoming more like Nebraska.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom