Pubdate: Thu, 12 Mar 2015
Source: Dallas Morning News (TX)
Copyright: 2015 The Dallas Morning News, Inc.
Contact: http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/send-a-letter/
Website: http://www.dallasnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/117
Authors: Benjamin Powell and Audrey Redford
Note: Dr. Benjamin Powell is a senior fellow with the Independent 
Institute, the director of the Free Market Institute and professor of 
economics in the Rawls College of Business Administration at Texas 
Tech University. Audrey Redford is a doctoral student in the 
Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics at Texas Tech.

WHY BLOCK LEGALIZING POT IN D.C.?

States where it's allowed have seen benefits, say Benjamin Powell and 
Audrey Redford

Last month's legalization of recreational marijuana use in 
Washington, D.C., has prompted some congressional Republicans to try 
to undermine the reforms. However, economic theory and the experience 
of states where marijuana is already legal indicate that legalization 
creates more benefits than costs.

Alaska also legalized marijuana last month. The recreational use and 
possession of up to 2 ounces of marijuana is now legal in Washington, 
D.C., for people 21 and older. (In Alaska, it's 1 ounce.) Although 
the sale of marijuana is still illegal in D.C., gifts of up to 1 
ounce are permitted. Marijuana must be consumed on private property, 
and people are allowed to "home grow" up to six marijuana plants in 
both D.C. and Alaska. Alaska plans to allow marijuana retailer 
licensing in 2016, but D.C. has not announced any plans to legalize 
the sale of marijuana.

This has angered congressional Republicans such as Rep. Jason 
Chaffetz of Utah and Rep. Mark Meadows of North Carolina. In a letter 
to D.C.'s mayor, Chaffetz and Meadows warned, "If you decide to move 
forward tomorrow with the legalization of marijuana in the district, 
you will be doing so in knowing and willful violation of the law."

But one has to wonder why. Colorado and Washington state have had 
legalized marijuana since 2012 (stores and dispensaries opened in 
2014) and appear to be doing quite well.

Colorado experienced a 77 percent drop in marijuana court cases and 
an 81 percent decrease in petty possession charges. That freed police 
to prevent other crimes. Denver violent crimes dropped from 2013 to 
2014. Homicides were down 24.4 percent, rape 2.5 percent and robbery 
3.3 percent. Property crimes such as burglary dropped 9.5 percent, 
theft from a motor vehicle was down 21.8 percent, and auto theft 
dropped 1.1 percent.

The legalization of marijuana hasn't led to reckless behavior on the 
roads. Overall traffic fatalities in Colorado fell from 481 in 2013 
to 466 in 2014.

What about the kids? Survey data from Colorado in 2013 shows that 
teen marijuana use is declining. According to a new working paper by 
economist Jeffrey Miron, Colorado school suspensions and high school 
dropout rates have also been declining since 2012.

Illicit drug use by minors has not increased. Survey data indicates 
that rates of recent marijuana use by 12- to 17-year-olds dropped 
slightly from 4.14 percent to 3.72 percent in Colorado and from 4.49 
percent to 3.70 percent in Washington between 2011-12 and 2012-13.

America's supply-side drug war has been failing for years. The demand 
for most drugs is not very price-sensitive. As a result, supply-side 
wars drive up prices that do little to decrease consumption. 
Meanwhile, black market incentives drive suppliers to create ever 
more dangerous products.

The government spends more than $50 billion annually on the war on 
drugs, and more than a half a million people are incarcerated in the 
U.S. for drug convictions. Yet few benefits are achieved from it. 
 From 1971, two years before the creation of the Drug Enforcement 
Administration, to 2007, the rate of death from a drug overdose per 
100,000 total deaths increased by a factor of 10.

Marijuana, as legalization advocates often point out, is one of the 
least dangerous drugs out there. Successful legalizations, like 
Colorado's, have encouraged five more states to put legalization on 
the ballot in 2016 and another five to work on legalization through 
the state legislatures.

Instead of hindering D.C.'s effort to legalize marijuana, Congress 
should be eliminating federal laws that are inconsistent with states' 
legalizations. In fact, evidence indicates that we would probably be 
better off if they legalized marijuana at the federal level, too.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom