COMMON SENSE AND MARIJUANA POLICY

A stream of witnesses brought a common sense approach to marijuana
policy to a hearing on Beacon Hill this week. The current law making
possession of small amounts of marijuana a criminal offense wastes
money - $24 million a year, according to a Boston University study -
and hurts people, especially young people, they testified. And after
35 years of the war on drugs, it's hard to argue that the current
policy is preventing people from using marijuana.

The bill before the Joint Mental Health and Substance Abuse Committee
would impose a $250 civil fine for possession of less than an ounce
of marijuana, freeing offenders of the criminal record that can close
off access to jobs and student aid.

Nobody showed up to speak in opposition to the bill, but that doesn't
mean there is clear sailing ahead. The state Legislature has been
reluctant to vote on anything that might brand members as soft on
crime, and a spokeswoman for Gov. Deval Patrick reiterated his
campaign pledge to veto any decriminalization measure.

Patrick, who looks more like a conventional politician by the day,
showed more common sense in endorsing bringing casinos to
Massachusetts. While agreeing that gambling can be addictive, he
recognized that, for most people, it isn't. A 10-year study by
Harvard Medical School found that 3 to 5 percent of people will
develop a gambling problem, which is another way of saying that for
95 to 97 percent of the people, gambling is a harmless entertainment.

Can the same be said for marijuana? Yes, but alcohol is an easier
comparison. Marijuana is far less addictive than booze and, strictly
speaking, it's not addictive at all. It is less destructive to your
liver and other organs than alcohol, nor is it as associated with
violence, family break-up or other social ills. There is no known
fatal dose of marijuana.

Alcohol prohibition failed because people finally admitted that,
while alcohol is a problem for some people, it's a harmless
entertainment for most. Marijuana prohibition is more punitive than
alcohol prohibition ever was, since the Volstead Act never simple
possession of alcohol illegal.

Consistency would argue that whether the vice in question is a hobby
or a habit, drinking beer, smoking pot or playing poker is an
individual decision, not something that should come with a prison sentence.

Consistency may be more than we can expect from our state
Legislature. Rep. Ruth Balser, D-Newton, who has endorsed the
marijuana decriminalization bill, is an opponent of legalizing
casinos. A similar marijuana bill was approved by Balser's committee
last year, but was never brought to the floor of either house for a vote.

In Massachusetts, as in other states, the public is way ahead of the
politicians on marijuana reform. Since 2002, voters in 30 House
districts approved nonbinding ballot questions endorsing some form of
decriminalization, often by wide margins. Activists are now
circulating petitions to put an initiative decriminalizing marijuana
possession on the statewide ballot in 2008.

Eventually, common sense will bring change to the state and nation's
drug policies. The wonder is that it is taking so long.