ONLY BY REGULATING MARIJUANA CAN THE GOVERNMENT EXPECT TO CONTROL IT

If the editors at The Patriot Ledger truly believe that "to guide
drug policy, you must take ownership of it," (Our Opinion:
"Legislature wise to address legalization of marijuana," Oct. 20),
then they should be advocating in support of legalizing and
regulating marijuana - not opining against it.

Only through state government regulation will we be able to bring
necessary controls to the marijuana market.

By enacting state and local legislation on the use, production and
distribution of marijuana, state and local governments can
effectively impose controls regarding:

Which citizens can legally produce marijuana;

Which citizens can legally distribute marijuana;

Which citizens can legally consume marijuana;

And where, and under what circumstances, is such use legally permitted.

By contrast, the prohibition of marijuana - even under
decriminalization - provides Massachusetts law enforcement and state
regulators with no legitimate market controls.

This absence of state and local government controls jeopardizes,
rather than promotes, public safety.

For example:

Prohibition abdicates the control of marijuana production and
distribution to criminal entrepreneurs (e.g., drug cartels, street
gangs, drug dealers who push additional illegal substances);

Prohibition provides young people with unfettered access to marijuana
(e.g., according to a 2009 Columbia University report adolescents now
have easier access to marijuana than they do alcohol);

Prohibition promotes the use of marijuana in inappropriate and
potentially dangerous settings (e.g., in automobiles, in public
parks, in public restrooms, etc.);

Prohibition promotes disrespect for the law and reinforces ethnic and
generation divides between the public and law enforcement (e.g.,
according to the FBI Uniform Crime Report, 75 percent of all
marijuana arrestees are under age 30; African Americans account for
only 12 percent of marijuana users, but comprise 23 percent of all
possession arrests).

House Bill 2929 and its companion bill, SB-1801, are fiscally
conservative, common sense proposals that seek to raise revenue,
promote public safety and limit the access that young people have to marijuana.

They seek to impose controls to Massachusetts' untaxed, unregulated
marijuana market.

It's time to end 70-plus years of marijuana prohibition with a policy
of legalization, taxation, regulation and education.