IT MAY BE TEMPTING - BUT LOOK AT THE REALITY

It's a tempting idea: Legalize and tax a commodity that a lot of
people like, collect the revenues, and reap the budgetary benefits. In
economic times like these, that might be just the formula we need to
pull us out of the red. In this case, the truth does not live up to
the hype.

Legalizing marijuana will not solve our budget woes, nor will it be
good for public health. Introducing marijuana into the open market is
very likely to do some other things, however: increase the drug's
consumption, and with it, the enormous social costs associated with
marijuana-related accidents, illness and productivity loss.

The example of legal alcohol and tobacco reveal an unsettling pattern.
Legal drugs are by definition easy to obtain, and commercialization
glamorizes their use and furthers their social acceptance. Their price
is low, and high profits make promotion worthwhile for sellers.
Addiction is simply the price of doing business. Any revenue gained
from taxing these drugs is quickly offset by the heavy costs
associated with their increased prevalence. Because today's
high-potency marijuana is much more harmful than once thought, a spike
in use from legalization would result in a financial burden California
cannot afford to bear.

It is almost universally accepted in the medical community that
marijuana use is linked with mental illness. Since the appearance of
the British Medical Journal's famous 2002 headline, "Marijuana and
psychiatric illness: the link grows stronger," the research showing
marijuana's link with illnesses like psychosis and schizophrenia has
become frighteningly commonplace. In fact, researchers from Kings
College in London have shown that eliminating marijuana use would
decrease the incidence of schizophrenia in the American population by
more than 8 percent. That means that marijuana use is responsible for
the schizophrenia suffered by more than 19,000 Americans. Other
research has shown the drug's connection to lung damage, as well as to
head, neck and testicular cancers.

Assemblyman Tom Ammiano's justification for AB390 relies on the myth
that marijuana laws are costing taxpayers millions of dollars and
wrecking the lives of otherwise law-abiding citizens. But a closer
examination of the facts reveals a very different reality. Although
there are thousands of arrests for marijuana possession every year in
our state, most of these arrests result in little or no consequences.
Most of those who are charged with possession plead down from more
serious charges, such as trafficking. Researchers from Rand report
that many marijuana arrests result from drinking and driving
violations at alcohol checkpoints. "The police also find joints, and
then (the offender) is in jail for both offenses. People's images of
the casual (marijuana) user getting hauled off to jail are not true,"
a Rand researcher recently commented.

Rand-sponsored research reveals that in the Netherlands, where the
drug is sold openly at "coffee shops," marijuana use among young
adults increased almost 300 percent after a wave of commercialization.
The country has also become a haven for producers of high-potency
marijuana, and other drugs like ecstasy and methamphetamine. These
unintended consequences have led many Dutch officials to advocate for
rolling back the status quo.

To be sure, restricting marijuana use by law - especially because some
people find it extremely pleasurable - is not without its costs. But
legalizing this addictive substance would only exacerbate our problems
by increasing the harm that greater levels of use will cause. Given
the heavy costs associated with our two legal substances, and the
relatively minor costs associated with our current restrictive
marijuana policy, the case for a commercial market for marijuana
remains weak and unconvincing - even in this uncomfortable economic
environment.