Pubdate: Thu, 24 Jul 2014
Source: Tribune, The (San Luis Obispo, CA)
Column: Over the Hill
Copyright: 2014 The Tribune
Contact:  http://www.sanluisobispo.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/391
Author: Phil Dirkx

CAN ANY LAW ACTUALLY RESTRAIN MARIJUANA USE?

Our City Council here in Paso Robles couldn't decide last week 
whether to ban the delivery of medical marijuana to people within the 
city. The vote was a 2-2 deadlock. One councilman was absent.

The delivery ban failed, but the city may still refuse to grant 
business licenses for delivering medical marijuana. The city attorney 
was to check whether the city's license ordinance covers such 
services. Selling medical marijuana from fixed locations in Paso 
Robles was banned in 2007.

Different levels of government have different marijuana rules. 
Federal law bans marijuana for any use, but California and some other 
states have legalized marijuana for medical purposes.

But can any law actually restrain marijuana use? The tidal wave of 
marijuana users already seems too high to stop. When a large 
percentage of Americans wants to do something, laws against doing it 
often prove futile.

The best example is Prohibition. It was a federal law and 
constitutional amendment that outlawed alcoholic drinks nationwide in 
1920. It lasted 13 years.

But that was too long. Bootlegging paid huge profits. Gangsters got 
rich and powerful. Officials got corrupted. Many Americans lost their 
old-fashioned respect for the law.

Current laws against marijuana may be having similar results. 
Criminal cartels south of the border make millions smuggling it in.

Gambling also used to be illegal. But where I grew up around 
Rochester, N.Y., I could buy illegal "Treasury Balance" lottery 
tickets from a fellow employee. Or I could bet in my usual bar with 
the old guy who was a "Numbers Game" writer.

There were also many "smoke shops" advertising sports results by 
ticker tape. They were really bookie joints, where I once saw a 
police officer come in and get free cartons of cigarettes.

But states finally gave up the charade of outlawing gambling. States 
now conduct their own lotteries and they also license casinos for a 
cut of the take.

Continuing to ban marijuana may also become too much trouble. I would 
then suggest we treat it like we treated tobacco. We didn't outlaw 
tobacco. We severely limited its advertising, taxed it heavily, and 
studied it thoroughly. We proved it kills people, and we continually 
remind the public of that.

I think the easiest way to put today's marijuana outlaws out of 
business is to make marijuana lawful. Then tax it and use that money 
to research its dangers and benefits. If it's truly harmful we should 
tightly regulate it and continually warn people about it, but never 
again ban it.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom