Pubdate: Sat, 08 Feb 2014 Source: Kalamazoo Gazette (MI) Copyright: 2014 Kalamazoo Gazette Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/vggfBDch Website: http://www.mlive.com/kzgazette/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/588 Author: Julie Mack IS ENFORCING MARIJUANA LAWS A GOOD USE OF PUBLIC RESOURCES? KALAMAZOO, MI -- Recently I was talking to Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette and I asked him about the movement to legalize marijuana use. Schuette has come out strongly against decriminalization in the past, and he reiterated that stance in our conversation. "Whether it's marijuana or other drugs, I think legalizing drugs is a mistake," Schuette said. "It puts drugs in the hands of children." He makes a valid point. From a health standpoint, marijuana may be less dangerous than cigarettes or alcohol, but it's not harmless. Do we really want to provide easier access to yet another mind-altering substance? I don't want high school kids munching on pot brownies in the school cafeteria anymore than I want them swilling vodka from their water bottles. And it's not just teenagers. Substance abuse is a societal scourge, whether it's alcohol, prescription drugs or illegal substances. Marijuana may on the low end when it comes to ill effects -- it's almost impossible to overdose on pot -- but it still has the ability to derail lives, especially those susceptible to addiction. All that said, there are compelling reasons to consider legalization, and it has to do with the costs of enforcing marijuana laws, both for individuals and for society as a whole. Recently, I crunched the numbers on marijuana arrests on Kalamazoo city and county for 2012. There were 688 arrests for marijuana offenses countywide, which comprised 69 percent of all drug arrests and 9 percent of arrests for all offenses, according to Michigan State Police statistics. About 60 percent of those marijuana arrests -- 413 -- occurred in the city of Kalamazoo. That was about 14 percent of all arrests in the city that year. Considering that Kalamazoo County and its municipalities spend more than $100 million a year on law enforcement, that means considerable public dollars are going to enforcing marijuana laws. Taxpayers have to ask themselves: Is that a good use of public dollars? Is that the best place to be putting our resources? We also should be thinking about the cost for individuals for who get arrested. While marijuana possession is a misdemeanor, it's still a criminal offense. And people can get slapped with felonies involving marijuana. In 2007, a Kalamazoo couple who were teachers at Gull Lake High School lost their jobs and faced felony charges for growing marijuana in their basement. More recently, a Paw Paw Middle School teacher who has a license to grow medical marijuana was charged with two felonies for violating that license; he's resigned his job and is facing trial in March. To be sure, it's unusual to have professional, middle-class folks getting arrested on felony marijuana charges. More than 80 percent of arrests involve simple possession, and it's low-income minorities who are especially vulnerable to getting caught -- mainly because they live in neighborhoods where police presence is the highest. Indeed, enforcement of marijuana laws is one of the most glaring examples of racial inequity in the criminal justice system. For instance, years ago Bill Schuette was a pot smoker. "Ancient history," he says now, and that's fair enough. There are certainly many, many Baby Boomers whose "ancient history" includes smoking pot. But people like Schuette -- a white, affluent kid whose stepfather was CEO of Dow Chemical Co. -- generally didn't (don't) have to pay the price of their illegal drug misdeeds. Meanwhile, minorities -- especially those in the inner city -- are far more likely to get caught, and forced to face the legal consequences. Numerous studies indicate that white and black Americans use marijuana at about the same rate. Yet a study released last summer by the American Civil Liberties Union found that blacks nationwide are four times more likely to be arrested on marijuana charges. In Kalamazoo County, black were eight times more likely to be charged. That's not fair. As the ACLU study noted, "The price paid by those arrested and convicted of marijuana possession is often significant and can linger for years, if not a lifetime. Arrests and convictions for possessing marijuana can negatively impact public housing and student financial aid eligibility, employment opportunities, child custody determinations, and immigration status." Like many people, I certainly have my reservations about legalizing marijuana and the potential for negative, unintended consequences. There's no doubt in my mind that even if we go down that road, marijuana use would need to be tightly controlled -- no sales to people under 18, strong enforcement of driving-under-the-influence laws, strict regulations on where and how it could be used and on its marketing. But it's a discussion worth having. Right now, Washington and Colorado are the national test bunnies for what happens when pot is legalized. We'll all watching. [sidebar] Bar Chart: 2012 arrest rate for marijuana No. of arrests per 1,000 residents Benton Harbor: 6.7 Saginaw: 5.7 Kalamazoo: 5.7 Grand Rapids: 5.7 Muskegon: 4.0 Flint: 3.9 Battle Creek: 3.1 Detroit: 1.8 Ann Arbor: 1.4 Jackson: 1.4 Landing: 1.3 - - - - Pie Chart: 2012 marijuana arrests in Kalamazoo County Marijuana possession: 84% Selling marijuana: 13% Other marijuana-related offenses: 2% Producing marijuana: 1% - - - - Marijuana arrest database Below is a database for the 36 Michigan counties with a population of 50,000 or more. The arrest statistics provided are for 2012, as reported to the Michigan State Police by local police agencies and as for arrests in that county. To create a top-to-bottom ranking of the different counties, click on "all counties" and then click on top of the appropriate column to look at the ranking for that column. http://www.mlive.com/opinion/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2014/02/julie_mack_marijuana_accounts.html - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D