LET POLICE FOCUS ON REAL CRIMES

There are plenty of drawbacks to smoking weed: it slows brain
function, it makes you eat like a pregnant lady, it contributes to
heart disease and some forms of cancer, and it limits your employment
opportunities since random urine tests have become standard in almost
every industry.

But is marijuana a threat to public safety?

State lawmakers are considering legislation that will reduce the
penalty for adults possessing as much as 1.4 ounces of marijuana to a
civil infraction accompanied by a $100 fine. Supporters say Senate
Bill 5615 will allow law enforcement to focus on more serious crimes.

We spend millions of dollars investigating and prosecuting drug
related crimes in the United States every year. Drug users are sent to
jail where taxpayers cover the expense of providing meals, medical
care and social services for inmates.

Meanwhile, in some rural King County communities property crimes of
less than $1,000 -- but crimes against people nonetheless -- are not
being investigated for lack of resources in the King County Sheriff's
Office.

Across Snohomish County, fiscal problems mean that some crimes like
theft and fraud that until recently would have been prosecuted as
felonies are being tried in city courts instead as gross
misdemeanors.

This is a dangerous trend, threatening communities all
over.

If decriminalizing marijuana possession helps law enforcement officers
devote more time to crimes affecting public safety -- theft, burglary
and assault -- then we at the Enterprise support SB5615.

The argument that marijuana is a gateway drug and that its
legalization will have a devastating impact on society has no merit so
long as we allow the regulated use of tobacco and alcohol, both of
which kill thousands of people every year and cost taxpayers billions
of dollars.