Pubdate: Sun, 27 Oct 2013
Source: Chattanooga Times Free Press (TN)
Copyright: 2013 New York Times News Service
Contact:  http://www.timesfreepress.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/992
Note: Paper does not publish LTE's outside its circulation area
Authors: Adam Nagourney and Rick Lyman, New York Times News Service

CALIFORNIA'S LEGAL MARIJUANA OFFERS LESSONS FOR STATES

LOS ANGELES - In the heart of Northern California's marijuana growing 
region, the sheriff's office is inundated each fall with complaints 
about the stench of marijuana plots or the latest expropriation of 
public land by growers.

Its tranquil communities have been altered by the emergence of a 
wealthy class of marijuana entrepreneurs, while nearly 500 miles away 
in Los Angeles, officials have struggled to regulate an explosion of 
medical marijuana shops.

But at a time when polls show widening public support for legalizing 
marijuana - recreational marijuana is about to become legal in 
Colorado and Washington - California's 17-year experience as the 
first state to legalize medical marijuana offers surprising lessons, 
experts say.

Warnings voiced against partial legalization - of civic disorder, 
increased lawlessness and a drastic rise in other drug use - have 
proved unfounded.

Instead, research suggests both that marijuana has become an alcohol 
substitute for younger people here and in other states that have 
legalized medical marijuana, and that while driving under the 
influence of any intoxicant is dangerous, driving after smoking 
marijuana is less dangerous than after drinking alcohol.

Although marijuana is legal here only for medical use, it is widely 
available. There is no evidence that its use by teenagers has risen 
since the 1996 legalization, though it is an open question whether 
outright legalization would make the drug that much easier for young 
people to get, and thus contribute to increased use.

And though Los Angeles has struggled to regulate marijuana 
dispensaries, with neighborhoods upset at their sheer number, the 
threat of unsavory street traffic and the stigma of marijuana shops 
on the corner, communities that imposed early and strict regulations 
on their operations have not experienced such disruption.

Imposing a local tax on medical marijuana, as Oakland, San Jose and 
other communities have done, has not pushed consumers to drug dealers 
as some analysts expected. Presumably that is because it is so easy 
to get reliable and high-quality marijuana legally.

Finally, for consumers, the era of legalized medical marijuana has 
meant an expanded market and often cheaper prices.

Buyers here gaze over showcases offering a rich assortment of 
marijuana, promising different potencies and different kinds of 
highs. Cannabis sativa produces a pronounced psychological high, a 
"head buzz," while cannabis indica delivers a more relaxed, lethargic 
effect, a "body buzz."

Advocates for marijuana legalization see the moves in Colorado and 
Washington as the start of a wave. A Gallup poll released last week 
found that 58 percent of Americans think the drug should be made legal.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom