LEGAL POT? LET'S TALK - FOR RIGHT REASONS

On the subject of legalizing marijuana, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is
right. And he's wrong.

The governor, who is nothing if not flamboyant, grabbed headlines
Tuesday by saying it's time for a debate on the question of
legalizing and taxing marijuana.

"Well, I think it's not time for (legalization), but I think it's
time for a debate," Schwarzenegger said. "I think all of those ideas
of creating extra revenues, I'm always for an open debate on it. And
I think we ought to study very carefully what other countries are
doing that have legalized marijuana and other drugs, what effect did
it have on those countries?"

With a bill to legalize and tax marijuana introduced in the
Legislature, and with a recent Field Poll showing 56 percent of
registered voters in favor of legalizing and taxing marijuana to
raise revenue for the state, a debate is in order.

But the prospect of raising an estimated $1.34 billion by taxing pot
is not the reason to initiate such a debate. The reason to begin the
debate is the demonstrable failure of the nation's drug laws.

Two decades of the "war on drugs" have failed to dry up the American
market for illegal drugs. Instead, that effort has filled the
nation's prisons, while the continuing market for drugs has fueled
violence in both this country and Mexico.

That is the context in which Americans - not just Californians but
all Americans - should debate questions such as legalizing marijuana.
It is difficult to feel sanguine about the prospect of legalized
cocaine, methamphetamine and heroin. At the same time, the system of
prohibition and enforcement is not working and seems unsustainable.

So give the governor credit and let the debate begin. But as
Californians join the discussion, they should keep the larger picture in mind.

A billion dollars or so in tax revenues won't make much of a dent in
California's budget. And it's small potatoes compared with what's at
stake as the nation tries to come to grips with its boundless
appetite for getting high and the incredible costs of that appetite.