Pubdate: Fri, 21 Mar 2014
Source: Daily Courier (Prescott, AZ)
Copyright: 2014 Prescott Newspapers, Inc.
Contact: http://www.dcourier.com/Formlayout.asp?formcall=userform&form=1
Website: http://www.dcourier.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4036
Author: Toni Denis

The federal government recently introduced new rules allowing banks to
take cash deposits from marijuana dispensaries-the first real step
toward national legalization. Already Colorado and Washington have
legalized the drug for recreational use statewide; 20 states including
Arizona have legalized medical marijuana; 13 states are expected to
have medical marijuana referendums this year and six states have
decriminalized recreational use of the plant.

In Arizona, a referendum to legalize is moving toward inclusion on a
statewide ballot in 2016. Also, a bill to end felony sentencing for
minor possession cases has been introduced in the Arizona House and
may move forward.

Based on current public opinion - a Gallup poll in October found 58
percent of Americans say it should be legalized - it's only a matter
of time before it is. After decades of evidence that prohibition
doesn't work, it's time to end the weed war.

In spite of a tidal wave of support for legalization, the Yavapai
County Board of Supervisors and the city councils of Prescott and
Prescott Valley recently passed resolutions against legalizing pot at
the urging of Yavapai County Attorney Sheila Polk and MatForce, the
local anti-drug group she leads.

Polk told The Daily Courier she's trying to head off problems because
some law enforcement official in Colorado told her crime is up in his
area. Also because MATForce members say legalization will get more pot
into the hands of kids.

On both sides of legalization, most people agree minors shouldn't have
marijuana. However, they already do. Even so, an Arizona survey showed
teen marijuana use declined when it was legalized for medical use.
Only by legalizing and controlling it will there be any chance of
regulating distribution. To pretend otherwise is pandering to those
who are against legalizing it on moral grounds - the modern version of
the Temperance League.

Many law enforcement officials are very much in favor of legalization.
The members of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) are
thousands of current and former police officers. They believe a "tight
system of legalized regulation" is the answer to "cripple the violent
cartels and street dealers who control the current illegal market."
The so-called War on Drugs created an underground system that has
defied every effort of the DEA and its paramilitary forces to stop it.
Just as legalizing alcohol made it much safer and more controllable,
the same will be true for pot.

Severe drug laws across the country victimize millions of people who
are incarcerated for abuse instead of being treated. In Arizona, where
for-profit prisons are the norm, they are preferred criminals because
they're non-violent. Typically poor and unable to pay for an adequate
defense, they fill the cells. In 2006, the most recent data, more than
41,000 Americans were in state or federal prison for marijuana
charges, according to the Marijuana Policy Project (mpp.org).

The costs to taxpayers are staggering. According to the ACLU, the cost
of enforcing marijuana possession laws was $3.6 billion in 2010
nationwide. More than 12 million Americans have been arrested for
marijuana possession since 1995. Of those, about 88 percent were for
possession, not manufacture or distribution. The human costs, too, are
shameful. Blacks are nearly four times as likely as whites to be
arrested for possessing marijuana, though both races, according to the
ACLU, use the drug about equally.

A Harvard University economist, Jeffrey Miron, projected in 2010 that
replacing marijuana prohibition with taxation and regulation would
create about $17.4 billion in reduced government spending and
increased revenues.

Here in Yavapai County, young people are the primary offenders
arrested for marijuana possession. Instead of a slap on the wrist,
they often face permanent felony records, and struggle to find work
and overcome the stigma for years. It doesn't make sense to ruin a
young person's life for smoking pot.

Not one to miss jumping on a bandwagon, Congressman Paul Gosar
introduced a "No Welfare for Weed" bill. A TV news report showed EBT
cards are being used at dispensary ATMs in Colorado. Maybe it would
make more sense to change the system so that the cards can't be turned
into cash, which can be used for any kind of drug, strip clubs and
alcohol, which is far more dangerous than pot.

To paraphrase Victor Hugo, there is nothing more powerful than an idea
whose time has come. Sensing the need to adapt with the times, Phoenix
Mayor Greg Stanton signed the petition to get the referendum to
legalize marijuana on the ballot in Arizona. Meanwhile Polk and
MATForce are trying to save us from evil weed with "resolutions." Good
luck with that.

Toni Denis is a freelance journalist, a five-year Prescott resident
and chairwoman of the Democratic Women of the Prescott Area.
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MAP posted-by: Matt