END THE COLLATERAL DAMAGE OF MARIJUANA MISDEMEANORS AND SAVE TAX DOLLARS

Two bills to decriminalize small amounts of marijuana appear doomed in
the state Legislature. Timid politicians cost taxpayers millions.

A dozen other states have concluded jail time for simple possession of
marijuana is ruinous public policy. Oregon made that call almost four
decades ago. In a time of imploding government budgets, Olympia is
averting its eyes from easy savings. The criminal-justice expense is a
substantial and grievous waste of tax dollars.

Senate Bill 5615 and House Bill 1177 -- sponsored by Sen. Jeanne
Kohl-Welles, D-Seattle, and Rep. Dave Upthegrove, D-Des Moines --
would reclassify adult possession of 40 grams or less of marijuana as
a civil infraction. A $100 fine payable through the mail, like a
parking ticket. Current law is a mandatory day in jail, and up to 90
days behind bars.

The oversized penalty is just the start. A misdemeanor-marijuana
conviction haunts an offender seemingly forever. Alison Holcomb,
drug-policy director of the ACLU of Washington, said that record can
lead to loss of employment, housing and federal financial aid for college.

The proposal to reclassify 40 grams of marijuana -- roughly two packs
of cigarettes -- from a misdemeanor to a class 2 civil infraction
passed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday with bipartisan
support.

At an earlier hearing, proponents, including the King County Bar
Association, testified about the mistaken application of criminal
sanctions to a public-health issue and the collateral damage of the
convictions in personal lives. The misdemeanors get dragged into
divorce and child-custody proceedings.

The default position for opponents declares marijuana a gateway to
harder illegal drugs. Increasingly that argument does not hold up to
analysis and long-term studies.

Cocaine users smoked marijuana. But the argument is turned on its
head, according to professor Dale M. Lindekugel, of the Department of
Sociology and Justice Studies at Eastern Washington University. Look
instead at the number of people who try marijuana and go onto cocaine,
and the percentage is small, Lindekugel said from his campus office.

State Rep. Chris Hurst, D-Enumclaw, chair of the House Public Safety
and Emergency Preparedness Committee, flatly declares no hearing will
be held. He argues it would be irresponsible to move a piece of
legislation forward before the federal government removes marijuana as
a Schedule 1 controlled substance.

Hurst, a decorated police veteran, said he supports such a change, but
Washington state should not act ahead of the federal government. Doing
so, he argues, could lull citizens into harm's way with zero-tolerance
federal authorities, such as the Coast Guard or border agents.

Hmmm. Mississippi, Maine, California, Oregon and Alaska, among others
have survived. The feds may also have no interest in chippy law
enforcement.

Holcomb and the ACLU report more than 11,000 arrests for
misdemeanor-marijuana possession in 2007 in Washington state. The
courts entered 3,600 convictions and imposed over 16,000 days in jail.
Police time, court time and jail time consumed approximately $7.6
million. Feel any safer?

Two ACLU opinion polls found a majority of Washington residents
divided between keeping a light penalty for small amounts used by
adults and decriminalizing marijuana altogether.

Take the step with lots of experience around the country. Invest the
law-enforcement savings into drug courts and public health.