One of the most progressive marijuana resolutions in the nation was recently introduced in the 2012 Virginia General Assembly session. Sponsored by Del. David Englin, D-Alexandria, HJ 140 would establish a subcommittee to study the revenue impact of legalizing and selling marijuana through Virginia ABC stores. Virginia's state-run liquor stores generated $121million in profits last year. How much revenue would legalizing marijuana generate? Who stands to lose and who stands to gain? These are questions worth answering.

Crunching the numbers is easily done. Legalizing marijuana would generate at least $208 million in net revenue annually. That's a conservative estimate. It's based on 6.5 percent of Virginia adults admitting to past-month use in the most recent federal survey. That amounts to 520,000 regular users out of an 8million population. Assumptions include negligible start-up costs for existing ABC stores, no advertising, no out-of-state sales and users generating an average $400 in revenue. Total revenue could be much higher. Government surveys undercount illicit drug use; many people won't admit to criminal behavior.

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A very interesting and important piece of legislation is soon to be heard in the Rules Committee of the Virginia House of Delegates. House Joint Resolution 139 calls for our Virginia governor to contact the United States federal Drug Enforcement Administration to officially request cannabis, aka marijuana, be removed from Schedule1 and placed in Schedule2.

H.J.139 is proposed by Virginia Del. David Englin and very much deserves our support.

Cannabis has been recognized by Virginia law as a legal medicine since 1979 with the passage of state law 18.2-251.1, which allows for cannabis as a treatment of glaucoma and cancer. In 1999, a disabled veteran named Brian Murphy attempted to use the state law as a defense for his use of cannabis for his neurological-based medical conditions.

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The University Should Embrace Del. Englin's Proposal to Consider The Evidence for Marijuana Legalization Before Making Policy Decisions

Del. David Englin, D-Alexandria, recently proposed legislation which would call for a study to evaluate the revenue impact of regulating and selling marijuana through Virginia's Alcoholic Beverage Control stores. Seeing as 14 states have decriminalized medicinal marijuana, this is a fairly modest proposal. Englin said his bill merely "asks the question of if we sold marijuana through ABC stores, how much money would we get?" It is easy to imagine the budgetary boon that would come from the state's profit off the ever-persistent demand for marijuana, but it is also worth thinking about how decriminalizing the drug may benefit the University community, as well.

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A bill proposed by Del. David Englin, D-Alexandria, requesting Gov. Bob McDonnell to petition the federal Drug Enforcement Agency to allow the use of marijuana for legitimate medical reasons failed in the House Rules Committee Tuesday evening.

"Legalizing marijuana is probably not supported by 99 percent of the people here," said Del. Dave Albo, R-Springfield, who did not vote on the resolution. "Del. Englin is a self-described ultra-liberal, and that's the kind of stuff he believes in."

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A proposal in the Virginia General Assembly might bring something unexpected to ABC stores: marijuana.

Virginia Delegate David Englin, a Democrat from House District 45, introduced House Joint Resolution No. 140, which proposes a study to examine the economic impact of legalizing marijuana and selling it in Virginia ABC stores.

However, it is not the first bill of its kind to reach the floor.

"It's hard for me to believe that even a study will get passed," said Karen Hult, a Virginia Tech political science professor. "I think there is going to be some concern about whether it's studying something that legislators would ever agree to, and I think many of them will say, 'No, we wouldn't.'"

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One of the most progressive marijuana resolutions in the nation was recently introduced in the 2012 Virginia General Assembly. Sponsored by Del. David Englin, D-Alexandria, HJ140 would establish a subcommittee to study the revenue impact of legalizing and selling marijuana through Virginia ABC stores. Virginia's state-run liquor stores generated $121 million in profits last year. How much revenue would legalizing marijuana generate? Who stands to lose and who stands to gain? These are questions worth answering.

Crunching the numbers is easily done. Legalizing marijuana would generate at least $208 million in net revenue annually. That's a conservative estimate. It's based on 6.5 percent of Virginia adults admitting to use during the past month in the most recent federal survey. That amounts to 520,000 regular users out of an 8 million population. Assumptions include negligible startup costs for existing ABC stores, no advertising, no out-of-state sales, and users generating an average $400 in revenue. Total revenue could be much higher. Government surveys undercount illicit drug use; many people won't admit to criminal behavior.

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A Weekly Roundup of Short Opinions Offered by the Daily Press Editorial Board

Stop and smell the Mozart

What do a professional third baseman and an orchestral percussionist have in common?

To some legislators, it's not just that they're both five-tool players.

Del. G. Manoli Loupassi, R-Richmond argues symphony musicians should be treated like sports team members when it comes to unemployment claims. He's sponsoring a bill that would deny symphony members benefits during the months they aren't under contract.

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It wouldn't be wintertime in Virginia unless at least one politician arrived in Richmond carrying a bill so wacky that it's guaranteed to garner headlines. And almost no support.

Meet Del. David Englin, from Alexandria, who's cooked up this session's juiciest slice of crazy.

If you think it's odd that the state is in the business of selling booze, just wait. Englin is noodling with something else for the ABC shelves.

Marijuana.

His joint resolution, HJ140, calls for the commonwealth to study the revenue it would rake in if pot were legalized and sold in ABC stores.

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RICHMOND - Del. David L. Englin wants you to know that he's no pothead.

The husband, father and Air Force veteran said he has never smoked marijuana - let alone inhaled - but he still wants to study the possibility of legalizing the drug in Virginia.

Englin (D-Alexandria) has introduced a bill this legislative session that would create a group to figure out how much money the state could reap if it legalized marijuana and sold it in more than 300 Virginia liquor stores.

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Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth" - Abraham Lincoln in the Gettysburg Address.

We live in a democracy, one which many people say is the greatest on earth, including myself. In a democracy, the will of the people is paramount, and the majority rules, provided that it does not oppress the minority. But today the minority is oppressing the majority, spearheaded by the federal government.

In the beginning of October, four United States prosecutors announced they would be increasing their "enforcement" of federal law in California. This increased enforcement was outlined as the use of new tactics, which include threatening property owners with civil forfeiture of their properties and any assets derived from them, such as rent payments.

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Gov. Also Looks to Expand Drug Courts As Part of Public Safety Agenda

RICHMOND -- Gov. Bob McDonnell announced his public safety agenda for the General Assembly session Thursday which includes increased sentences for repeat drug dealers, expansion of local drug courts and an alternative program for non-violent offenders who violate probation.

"Public safety really is the first and foremost duty of government at every level," McDonnell said. "People must feel safe in their homes, their neighborhoods, their church, their synagogue if they are going to really get access to the American dream."

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Federal authorities' efforts in recent months to crack down on state-regulated marijuana dispensaries in California have increased tensions over which level of government should take the lead in defining the legal boundaries for drug use and possession.

Marijuana, under the federal Controlled Substances Act, is classified as a Schedule I drug, the same as LSD and ecstasy. The designation means none is recognized as having any medicinal value.

But that view runs counter to the positions of numerous doctors and scientists who've found the plant does, indeed, offer some medicinal benefits to individuals dealing with certain health conditions. More than a dozen states, and the District of Columbia, have been convinced and approved their own laws that either decriminalize marijuana or allow for its medicinal use.

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Re: "Briefly put," Sept. 27 editorial:

Speaking as a retired detective and student of history, your idea (have pharmacies participate in tracking sales of meth ingredients) to improve the meth problem is doomed to failure.

We in law enforcement have been trying such ideas for the past 40 years. The results of those ideas and a trillion tax dollars spent? According to the Drug Enforcement Administration, "Drugs are readily available to America's youth."

The meth lab, whether "shake and bake" or the table-sized variety, is the moonshine still of the 21st century. We can make 99 percent go away if we would repeal the prohibition of amphetamines. Allow adults legal access to the same amphetamines we give Air Force and Navy pilots to fly long missions. This is not complicated.

Detective/Officer (retired)

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Speaking as a retired detective, I heartily agree with the thoughts of Donnie Johnston ["Is it time for a truce in the war on drugs?" July 22].

My profession has spent just over a trillion tax dollars on the war on drugs. The results? Drugs are cheaper, stronger, and more readily available to our teens.

Prohibition is the prime driver of felony crime in the U.S. Millions of good citizens have been made victims because a crackhead needs $200 a day.

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LET'S WAX philo-sophical. Should those who kill and maim in wars be prosecuted for murder or attempted murder? After all, they are killing or trying to kill other people.

The conventional answer, of course, would be: "Absolutely not! When war is declared, there is no penalty for killing or maiming in battle."

But what if people are engaged in an undeclared war? Remember that the Vietnam conflict was never a declared war. The fighting in Libya is not a declared war.

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For all the talk of government inefficiency, wasteful spending and ruinous debt, the political class continues to dismiss any effort to reform a failed, decades-old campaign: the war on drugs.

That point was highlighted this month in a report by the Global Commission on Drug Policy, which noted billions of dollars were being funneled into a circular system that jailed thousands of low-level offenders but failed to get drugs off the street.

"Apparent victories in eliminating one source or trafficking organization are negated almost instantly by the emergence of other sources and traffickers."

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Re: "Police weed out 500 plants in Fincastle marijuana bust," March 19 news story:

I'm sure that many marijuana growers and sellers are thankful to the Virginia State Police for this latest marijuana bust and others like it.

Without operations like this, marijuana would be worth what other easy-to-grow weeds are worth -- very little.

Thanks to the Drug Enforcement Administration and other so-called drug warriors, the easy-to-grow weed is worth almost as much as pure gold - -- and completely tax free.

Any marijuana growers, sellers or traffickers arrested will soon be replaced. They always are.

Kirk Muse

Mesa, Ariz.

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Re: Robert Sharpe's outstanding commentary, "Another wrong turn in the war on drugs" (Feb. 10):

I'd like to add that marijuana is relatively safe in that it has never caused a documented death from its use. However, marijuana prohibition is very dangerous because it then is sold only by criminals -- criminals who often sell other, much more dangerous drugs and who offer free samples to their marijuana customers.

For the sake of our children, we need to regulate and control the sale of marijuana. Only legal products can be regulated by our government. Only legal products can be controlled by our government. And only legal products can be taxed by our government.

It seems to me that nonmarijuana users would be very much in favor of taxing a product they don't use.

Around here, taxing someone else's vice is very popular.

Kirk Muse

Mesa, Ariz.

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Del. William Cleaveland, R-Botetourt County, sponsored one of a slew of bipartisan bills in the 2011 Virginia General Assembly to outlaw the sale and use of synthetic marijuana. His was one incorporated into H.B. 1434, which passed the House without a dissenting vote. The Senate passed a similar bill, also without a "no" vote.

In a year when the entire General Assembly is up for re-election, banning synthetic marijuana is one thing risk-averse legislators can agree on.

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No fewer than 17 bipartisan bills to outlaw the sale and use of synthetic marijuana have been filed in the 2011 Virginia General Assembly session. In a year when the entire assembly is up for re-election, banning synthetic marijuana is one thing risk-averse legislators can agree on.

Synthetic marijuana is made from chemicals related to mothballs. The effects may be similar to those of pot, but the chemicals are nothing like marijuana. The synthetics contain carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in amounts large enough to make tobacco look like health food in comparison. The comparative safety of organic marijuana is well-established.

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