Pubdate: Thu, 15 Nov 2007
Source: Daily Tar Heel, The (U of NC, Edu)
Column: If The Water's Itchy, Get Out
Copyright: 2007 DTH Publishing Corp
Contact:  http://www.dailytarheel.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1949
Author: Jeff Soplop
Note: Part One http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n1297/a05.html
Referenced: The 1934 New York Times article 
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v34/n000/a002.html
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Marijuana)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Marijuana - Medicinal)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization)

WHAT TO DO ABOUT THE DOOBIE: PART TWO

Marijuana is supposed to make you relax, but the last few weeks it's 
been stressing me out. The reason for the duress is my attempt to 
understand whether smoking the doobie should be legalized.

My quest began when I saw the writing on the wall, literally, in a 
men's room on the fifth floor of Davis Library where someone 
scribbled "legalize it" on the tile. In light of that 
gastro-inspirational moment, I wrote last week's column on the health 
implications of marijuana. Although I concluded that marijuana is no 
worse for your health than alcohol or tobacco, the broader 
legalization question remained open.

Marijuana wasn't always illegal; in the early 20th century 
recreational use of the herb caught on, but getting high was 
looked-down upon. Widespread misunderstanding about marijuana's 
effects stimulated anti-pot sentiment. A 1934 New York Times article 
described marijuana as a "poisonous weed which maddens the senses and 
emaciates the body of the user."

Caught up by public hostility and poor journalism, the government 
enacted the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937, which heavily restricted and 
taxed cannabis. When the Supreme Court declared that act 
unconstitutional in 1969, Congress passed a new law that classified 
marijuana as a schedule I drug and essentially outlawed it.

Oddly enough, since marijuana use was first restricted, public 
opinion has done an about-face on the issue. Now a large majority of 
American citizens support marijuana use for medical purposes, and the 
herb is considered more benign than it was 70 years ago.

Despite the swing in public opinion, the federal government has 
refused to grant states authority over marijuana, whether for medical 
or recreational use. Washington's obstinacy is surprising because 
legalizing marijuana has two very obvious benefits - taxation and 
regulation, two of Uncle Sam's favorite words.

At least one economist has attempted to estimate the fiscal benefits 
of legalization. He estimated the federal and state governments would 
collectively save $7.7 billion a year in enforcement expenses, and if 
marijuana were taxed at rates similar to alcohol and tobacco, the 
government would rake in about $6.2 billion in tax revenues as well, 
creating a total net benefit of $13.9 billion. Not a bad chunk of change.

But legalization involves more than just money. One argument against 
legalization is the notion that marijuana is a "gateway drug," which 
will lead to use of heavier narcotics. An important but dubious 
proposition, the gateway concept has proved impossible to verify due 
to the cumbersome entanglements of cause and effect.

Other doobie doubters worry that legalization would boost the number 
of potheads, thereby causing a shortage of brownie mix.

While researchers have had mixed conclusions on whether legalization 
would increase marijuana users, anecdotal evidence suggests that use 
wouldn't increase by much if at all.

When England relaxed enforcement of marijuana laws in 2004, use 
actually declined significantly, even among youth. Similarly, the 
Netherlands' nonenforcement marijuana policy has worked fine for years.

In the end, determining exactly what would happen if marijuana were 
legalized is unfeasible. But the known evidence reveals that pot 
isn't much worse for your health than alcohol or tobacco, that the 
U.S. government would get a substantial financial boost from taxes 
and law enforcement savings and that other nations' relaxation of 
marijuana laws hasn't resulted in any massive unraveling of their 
social fabrics.

Considering all that, it's time for the United States to ease up on 
the cannabis crackdown. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake