TIME TO LEGALIZE POT, PROPONENTS SAY

Opponents Say Costs of Legalizing Marijuana Are Too High

Depending on which side you take, marijuana either is a miracle plant
with a bad rap or a gateway drug to a life of crime.

And even as local governments struggle to reconcile their regulations
with the state's medical marijuana law and the federal prohibition
against pot, pro-marijuana advocates are taking their efforts one
step beyond: legalizing it.

There are two ballot initiatives and one bill pending in Sacramento
that would legalize marijuana for personal use. Advocates say
legalizing and taxing the drug would help the cash-starved state and
free law enforcement to focus on violent crimes.

"I think that collectively these efforts illustrate that there is
much momentum to end decades of failed marijuana policies," said
Stephen Gutwilling, state director for the Drug Policy Alliance, a
nationwide group that advocates legalizing marijuana.

The group supports, but has not officially endorsed, the voter
initiatives and the bill, Gutwilling said.

Opponents say legalizing pot will only increase drug addiction and crime.

"It makes no sense," said John Redman, executive director for
Californians for a Drug Free Youth, a drug abuse prevention group
based in San Diego.

In recent years, San Diego County has been a flashpoint for those who
favor loosening drug laws and those who oppose it. For years, the
Board of Supervisors fought to overturn the state's 1996 medical
marijuana law. It lost that battle in May.

Last week, Escondido adopted a ban on medical marijuana dispensaries.
The county and Oceanside adopted ordinances temporarily banning the
establishments while they research options on how to regulate the dispensaries.

Tax It, Regulate It

Pro-legalization advocates were emboldened earlier this year by a
Field Poll that found 56 percent of California voters supported
legalizing and taxing marijuana.

Two groups filed initiatives with the secretary of state to legalize marijuana.

One of the initiatives was filed by Oakland medical marijuana
entrepreneur Richard Lee, who helped push a first-of-its-kind tax on
city medical marijuana dispensaries that passed with 80 percent of
the vote last month.

The other was filed by a group of Northern California criminal defense lawyers.

Pro-legalization advocates say that decades of law enforcement
efforts against the drug have failed to deter its widespread use or
availability.

"Taxing and regulating cannabis, like we do with alcohol and
cigarettes, will generate billions of dollars in annual revenues for
California to fund what matters most: jobs, health care, schools and
libraries, roads and more," proponents wrote in the Regulate, Control
and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010, one of the two initiatives.

The measure would allow adults 21 and older to keep up to 1 ounce of
marijuana for their personal use.

The other measure, the Tax, Regulate and Control Cannabis Act of
2010, would set no specific limits on the amount of pot adults could
possess or grow for personal use. And it would clear the criminal
record of anyone convicted of a pot-related offense.

Both initiatives are awaiting review by the state attorney general's
office before the proponents can begin collecting signatures.

The statewide measures need nearly 434,000 signatures to be included
on the November 2010 ballot.

In February, state Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco,
introduced a bill that would allow adults 21 and older to legally
possess, grow and sell marijuana. He said California could benefit
from revenues of taxing the sale of marijuana.

The State Board of Equalization estimated in a report released in
July that taxing marijuana would generate about $1.4 billion in
revenue for the state. The report estimates that marijuana retail
sales would bring $990 million from a $50-per-ounce fee and $392
million in sales taxes.

"It would be great if they just made it legal for everyone," said
James Stacy, who runs a medical marijuana collective in North County.

More Harm Than Good

Opponents say legalizing pot would create more problems than it would solve.

The public health costs of increased drug abuse would outweigh any
financial gain from legalization, Redman said.

"It's a horrible idea, because when you reduce the perception of harm
and increase availability, (drug) abuse goes up," Redman said.

Substance abuse programs cost the county and the nation billions,
Redman said. Taxing marijuana would not raise enough money to cover
the cost of the problems it would produce, he said.

"The problem is that you are not going to be able to tax away the
burden," Redman said.

Mary Anne Dijak, who works with the anti-drug abuse group North
Inland Community Prevention Program, said marijuana also can be a
gateway drug for teens, meaning it could lead to the use of other drugs.

Many teens are arrested while on drugs, she said. Many more could
follow if the drug is legalized, she said.

Dijak pointed to a recent study by the San Diego Association of
Governments, a regional planning agency, that said the number of
teens arrested in the county who are under the influence of marijuana
has increased in recent years.

The number of juvenile arrestees testing positive for marijuana rose
from 40 percent in 2007 to 44 percent in 2008, while the number
testing positive for methamphetamine rose from 8 percent to 10
percent, according to the study.

Law enforcement officials also are concerned about the possibility of
marijuana being legalized.

The Escondido Police Department's assistant chief, Cory Moles, said
legalizing it would lead to more crime, such as driving under the influence.

"I think the drugs are illegal for a reason, because they are harmful
to people," he said.

Leslie McGill, executive director of the California Police Chiefs
Association, said the group has not taken a position on the marijuana
legalization measures.

However, the association recently conducted a study on medical
marijuana dispensaries that said the establishments attract violent
crime, including armed robbery and murder.

"Because they are repositories of valuable marijuana crops and large
amounts of cash, several operators of dispensaries have been attacked
and murdered by armed robbers and are regularly burglarized,"
according to the study. "Drug dealing, sales to minors, loitering,
heavy traffic, increased noise, robberies of customers ... are also
common ancillary byproducts of their operations"

Conflict

Legalization opponents also point out that even if the state were to
decriminalize marijuana, people would still be subject to federal
law, which prohibits the possession and use of marijuana.

The federal Controlled Substances Act, approved in the 1970s, says
that marijuana is a "Schedule 1" drug, without any medical value and
on par with heroin, LSD and mescaline.

Gutwilling said it's time to end the federal marijuana ban as well.
He said his group favors legalizing only marijuana. The group favors
treatment for drug addicts rather than incarceration, he said.

Gutwilling likened the ban on marijuana use to the prohibition of
alcohol in the 1920s, which led to violence, corruption and gang wars.

"Nobody dies today over running beer," Gutwilling said. "And we have
made an enormous amount of progress through state-funded education
campaigns against substance abuse."