Pubdate: Tue, 11 Sep 2012
Source: Oregonian, The (Portland, OR)
Copyright: 2012 The Oregonian
Contact:  http://www.oregonlive.com/oregonian/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/324
Author: Shelley Fox-Loken
Note: Shelley Fox-Loken, a speaker for Law Enforcement Against 
Prohibition, is a former corrections counselor in Oregon.

YES ON MEASURE 80: REGULATING MARIJUANA WOULD INCREASE PUBLIC SAFETY

I went into criminal justice because I wanted to serve the public. As 
a corrections official, I thought that by working with inmates I'd be 
able to help them reintegrate into society, making their lives better 
and our community safer. I quickly became disillusioned with that 
noble idea, however, as I saw that rehabilitation, once the 
overarching goal of the penal system, was increasingly impeded as 
Oregon's prisons were overrun with people whose only crimes were drug-related.

Prison used to be reserved for those who committed what we think of 
when we hear the word "crime" -- murderers, rapists, thieves. But 
increasingly during the past 40 years, drug users and low-level 
dealers who've committed no offense other than succumbing to the 
medical problem of substance abuse have been joining those ranks. In 
order to prosecute those committing these consensual crimes, we're 
using resources -- police time, court time, jail beds -- that could 
be better spent going after those whose victims are all too real.

Measure 80, the initiative on Oregon's ballot this November that 
would regulate marijuana like alcohol, doesn't solve that problem 
entirely, but it's certainly a step in the right direction.

Not only would regulating marijuana free up law enforcement resources 
to go after the real criminals in society, it would increase public 
safety in other ways. Right now, the marijuana trade is largely 
controlled by large and dangerous international drug cartels drawn to 
the industry because of the huge profits available. Many of these 
cartels are in Mexico -- which by some estimates has lost 60,000 
people to drug war-related violence since 2006 -- although the U.S. 
Justice Department reports that Mexican cartels are now operating in 
more than 1,000 U.S. cities.

The majority of those cartels' revenue comes from marijuana sales. If 
marijuana becomes legal and grown by local farmers, so that the 
revenue stays in the state and taxes go to funding schools and 
hospitals, cartels' profits disappear. Just as organized crime took a 
major blow when alcohol prohibition was lifted in 1933, so too will 
public safety be improved when marijuana is sold at regulated stores, 
where people know they're getting a safe product, rather than by 
criminals on the street.

Measure 80 would also help fund efforts to reduce substance abuse, by 
earmarking 7 percent of tax revenue it generates to go toward drug 
treatment. This amounts to millions of dollars that are currently 
unavailable and badly needed by counties around Oregon.

But how much good would ending marijuana prohibition in Oregon do if 
it remains illegal in the rest of the country? A lot. First, it 
closes down a market to the cartels that may seem small compared with 
the rest of the United States but actually represents millions of 
dollars. More important, though, it will kick-start a nationwide 
movement for change. There are currently two other states, Washington 
and Colorado, with initiatives to legalize marijuana on the ballot. 
If any of these efforts succeed, it will send a powerful message to 
our political leaders that the country is ready to reform our failed 
marijuana laws. Once the statutes are enacted and the world doesn't 
end (just as it didn't end when Oregon became the first state to 
decriminalize possession of marijuana in 1973), it will show that 
we've developed a sustainable model that can be implemented elsewhere.

By any measure, marijuana prohibition has been a spectacular failure. 
In terms of rates of use, in terms of wasted resources, in terms of 
wasted lives and human potential. Take it from someone who once 
believed, who wanted to believe: It's not working. We Oregonians need 
to show that pioneering spirit once again and lead the nation in 
ending this failed war. Show that Beaver State spirit and vote yes on 
Measure 80 this November.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom