Pubdate: Fri, 6 Mar 2009
Source: San Jose Mercury News (CA)
Copyright: 2009 San Jose Mercury News
Contact:  http://www.mercurynews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/390
Referenced: AB390 http://drugsense.org/url/gwVcxxaW
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?115 (Marijuana - California)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?140 (Rockefeller Drug Laws)

TIME FOR PUBLIC POLICY DEBATE ON MARIJUANA LAWS

No, Assemblyman Tom Ammiano isn't high. He's well aware that federal 
law prohibits the legalization of marijuana sales in California. He 
also knows President Obama opposes changing the federal law.

So what's the San Francisco Democrat up to with AB 390, his proposal 
to legalize and tax weed to ease the state's deficit?

Think of it as a conversation starter -- a necessary first step 
toward bringing more reason into U.S. drug laws. They won't change 
without pressure and leadership from states such as California.

And while legal pot shops won't be opening anytime soon, Ammiano is 
taking an obvious first step toward sanity in drug enforcement: 
decriminalizing marijuana for personal and private use. That would 
recognize reality and take some pressure off the state's overwhelmed 
criminal justice system.

Marijuana is California's biggest cash crop, creating a $14 billion 
market. Prohibition isn't working any better for pot than it did for 
alcohol. The drug is widely available and used across age and income 
groups. Enforcing laws against it, smoking out growers and jailing 
users, is wasting hundreds of millions of dollars that are needed for 
education and health care.

The first step, which could be accomplished this year, is for 
California to reduce penalties for the personal, private use of 
marijuana, making it more like a traffic offense. This can be done 
under federal law, and California would not be first. Colorado and 
Alaska -- yes, conservative Sarah Palin's domain -- have already done 
it. Eleven other states have decriminalized pot use to some extent. 
New York now is re-examining its extreme Rockefeller-era drug laws on 
the theory that easing penalties for nonviolent users would be good 
fiscal and social policy.

The more radical proposal to legalize pot raises more questions. 
Ammiano estimates that selling the drug under a regulatory structure 
similar to the one for beer, wine and liquor would bring in $1.3 
billion a year to California's treasury. However, the state Board of 
Equalization estimates that legalizing marijuana could increase 
consumption by as much as 40 percent, an attention-getting, if 
speculative, figure.

Even if that's true, it might be less damaging to individuals and 
society than the current policies. Beyond the cost of arresting, 
prosecuting and jailing nonviolent users, lawmakers can't ignore how 
much the present laws are contributing to the growth of gangs, both 
here and in Mexico. Taking away the illegal market for the most 
common drug could improve public safety.

It's not just San Francisco liberals who advocate changing U.S. 
policies on drugs. Republican George Shultz, the former secretary of 
state, and past conservative icons such as Milton Friedman and 
William F. Buckley have argued that the harm from fighting the war on 
drugs outweighs the benefits. Recent polls show increasing numbers of 
Americans support legalizing marijuana.

It's past time for a rational public policy conversation about 
California's marijuana laws. Thank Ammiano for opening it. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake