Pubdate: Sun, 26 Jul 2015
Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA)
Copyright: 2015 Hearst Communications Inc.
Contact: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/submissions/#1
Website: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/388
Authors: Gavin Newsom and Abdi Soltani
Note: Gavin Newsom is the lieutenant governor of California. Abdi 
Soltani is the executive director of the ACLU of Northern California.

MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION SHOULD IMPROVE THE STATUS QUO

The commission we established two years ago to study marijuana 
legalization in California released a report Wednesday with 
recommendations we believe should be considered before Californians 
decide whether to legalize marijuana.

First, let us be clear on one thing: We are not marijuana 
enthusiasts. We began this process not to extol the virtues of the 
plant, but out of a desire to do better than the status quo.

The status quo is a thriving illegal market of cultivation and sales, 
with no protection for the environment, consumers or workers, and no 
tax revenue.

The status quo is an under-regulated medical marijuana system where 
responsible cultivators and dispensaries exist alongside others just 
out to make a buck.

The status quo is racial disparities in marijuana arrests and 
incarceration from a failed War on Drugs.

And the status quo is youth using marijuana at rates greater than 
tobacco. Drug dealers don't card kids. Period. And we don't have 
education and prevention programs in place. Despite cannabis' 
classification by the federal government as a Schedule 1 illegal 
substance, the National Institute on Drug Abuse's annual survey for 
2014 found that 34 percent of 10th-graders had already used 
marijuana, making the substance more prevalent among this age group 
than tobacco (23 percent).

We expect to see a legalization measure on the 2016 ballot, so we 
wanted to understand: What would it take to do this right, to improve 
the status quo, while limiting the unintended consequences that have 
characterized past ballot initiatives? Our report includes 58 
recommendations for policymakers and the public to consider before 
California decides to legalize recreational marijuana for production, 
sale and adult use. We worked with legal, academic, law enforcement 
and policy experts. We also held public hearings in cities across the 
state. This is what we recommend:

This industry should not be California's new Gold Rush. We should not 
be in a hurry to replace the problems of the status quo with an 
unregulated free-market that will create new problems. A new market 
must have strong regulations in place from the outset. The report 
recommends nine goals that should drive all the decisions related to 
marijuana legalization and regulation. Among them, the goals of 
protecting youth and promoting public health and safety must guide 
all other decisions surrounding legalization.

Equity has to be a central goal, so we make sure we do not replace 
the racial disparities of the past with new inequalities in the 
industry. Protecting consumers, workers and the environment are also 
key goals, ones we can address better in a legal market than with the 
status quo.

We have to continue to provide access to marijuana as medicine for 
patients. And we need to provide access to the market, for small and 
midsize businesses - cultivators, distributors, manufacturers, 
retailers, transporters, suppliers of sees, product testing.

We should draw from the lessons of the regulation in California of 
tobacco and alcohol. Even though cannabis is different than both 
tobacco and alcohol in its production, processing and physiological 
effects, we can learn from the public health ad campaigns that have 
discouraged tobacco use or the regulation of alcohol retailers. And 
we can tailor important health messages to the new industry. We can 
learn from the other states that have gone ahead of us in legalizing 
- - especially Colorado and Washington. But we have to develop a plan 
that works for California and our unique characteristics as a people: 
38 million strong, with tremendous racial diversity. The report 
recommends a number of steps that ensure we create an industry that 
provides opportunity, and doesn't lock people out of the legal jobs 
it can provide.

The goal of legalization and regulation should not be to maximize tax 
revenue or create the largest industry possible. Both those goals 
depend on or encourage the heavy use of marijuana, which we do not 
support. Our report is unequivocal in its goal of preventing 
corporate consolidation in the marijuana industry, as we have seen 
with Big Tobacco.

If voters decide to legalize marijuana, we must reduce the dangers 
that come with the illicit market and promote health and public 
safety. We can use the opportunity to improve the status quo.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom