Pubdate: Tue, 21 Jan 2014
Source: Albuquerque Journal (NM)
Copyright: 2014 William R. Miller
Contact:  http://www.abqjournal.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/10
Author: William R. Miller

BE CAREFUL WITH ANY MARIJUANA POLICY

HAVING SPENT 40 years studying and treating addictions, I urge caution
in changing New Mexico's laws regarding marijuana. While it is absurd
to incarcerate people for drug use, there are many options between
decriminalization and legalization. The Netherlands, for example, has
never legalized marijuana: possession, sale and production remain
technically illegal though largely unenforced, and in recent years the
Dutch have been adjusting policies to decrease high-potency marijuana
and drug tourism.

Drug legalization is difficult to undo, witness our national
experience with prohibition. Alcohol and tobacco are both so harmful
that they would never be legalized if they were now being considered
as new drugs. Marijuana is far less toxic, but by no means harmless,
and we know too little about the effects of various blood levels on
tasks such as driving, operating machinery, or flying a plane.
Whatever expands the availability and reduces the cost of a
"recreational" drug tends to increase its use and the attendant harm
and social costs.

To be sure, much harm has also been done by the "war on drugs."
Incarceration and criminal records damage users' lives and do nothing
to help people recover from addiction. It is quite possible to change
our laws in a way that removes such harm without making a drug
available for over-the-counter sales and marketing. Let's go slow and
allow adequate time to study the actual effects of policy changes.

WILLIAM R. MILLER

Albuquerque 
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