IT'S TIME TO HAVE GOOD DEBATE ON LEGAL MARIJUANA

Our View: Less Drug Trafficking, Crime Are Possible Benefits of a New Approach

The one thing we hope that comes out of an effort to legalize medical
marijuana in Arizona is a broader discussion on the risks and merits
of possibly legalizing marijuana for the general populace.

To be clear, we are not advocating for legalized marijuana.

However, given the toll the illegal marijuana trade takes on the
nation -- and Southern Arizona in particular -- it's time for a serious
discussion on the possible benefits of regulating and taxing
marijuana, much like the government does alcohol.

The Arizona Medical Marijuana Act initiative drive, which was launched
last week, is limited in scope. Howard Fischer reported in Friday's
Star that the measure, if it makes the 2010 ballot and is approved by
voters, would give people who are prescribed marijuana and test
positive for the drug at work the anti-discrimination protections
available to women and minorities.

Medical-marijuana laws are certainly worthwhile.

Former U.S. Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders wrote in 2004: "The
evidence is overwhelming that marijuana can relieve certain types of
pain, nausea, vomiting and other symptoms caused by such illnesses as
multiple sclerosis, cancer and AIDS -- or by the harsh drugs sometimes
used to treat them. And it can do so with remarkable safety. Indeed,
marijuana is less toxic than many of the drugs that physicians
prescribe every day."

Medical-marijuana efforts, however, seem to ignore the elephant in the
room -- the fact that many people use marijuana recreationally.

After all, there wouldn't be an illegal-marijuana trade if it wasn't
in such huge demand. In discussing a Border Patrol checkpoint on
Interstate 19, U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords said in 2007 that the
federal agency had seized 1.8 million pounds of marijuana over a
12-month period. About half of the marijuana was seized in the Tucson
sector. If that was the amount of marijuana seized, one can only
wonder how much actually got through.

The illegal nature of marijuana also helps fuel the violent narcotics
trade that has caused many deaths in Mexico and has partly spilled
over to the United States. Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard
wrote in a guest opinion for the Star last month that marijuana is the
biggest source of revenue for drug cartels, accounting for an
estimated 65 percent of their income.

Goddard wrote: "Legalizing marijuana could reduce illegal trafficking,
but I fear it would create a new set of problems. . . . I also believe
that marijuana's well-established role as a gateway drug could lead to
increased use of other illegal drugs. The United States must do more
to curb our insatiable demand for drugs."

Goddard is not in favor of legalizing marijuana, but he said that
option should be on the table when discussing how to combat drug
trafficking.

Last week, former Mexican President Vicente Fox and three other former
Latin American leaders called for the decriminalization of marijuana.
Fox pointed out that organized crime in the United States dropped
after Prohibition, which made alcohol illegal.

Legalizing marijuana "must be done in conjunction with the United
States, but it is time to open the debate," Fox told CNN. "It can't be
that the only way is for the state to use force."

About 20 countries have decriminalized the use of marijuana to some
degree. The United States might be able to take the best drug policies
from those nations and draw upon the lessons of Prohibition to come up
with rules that decrease criminal activity and improve safety.

One thing is certain: People are using marijuana and will continue to
use it whether it's legal or not.

So as Arizonans debate medical-marijuana for the next 18 months, let's
keep the bigger issue in mind. Legalizing marijuana is worth
discussing and debating.