POT: MAKE IT LEGAL

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Each summer, West Virginia State Police
helicopters search state hilltops, and tons of prime marijuana plants
are seized and destroyed. Thus the state's most valuable agricultural
crop -- which could provide enormous tax revenue -- is wasted.

Meanwhile, thousands of luckless young West Virginians sit in prison
cells on "pot" charges, while taxpayers cough up millions for their
keep. When the convicts eventually are released, they are partly
unemployable and their lives are permanently marred.

This costly police-and-prison "war on pot" is somewhat a reprise of
Prohibition, when America foolishly tried to stamp out alcohol.
Prohibition created organized crime, causing bootleg murders and
payoff corruption -- yet it failed absurdly.

Pot prohibition doesn't work any better than alcohol prohibition did.
Billions of dollars could be gained if states simply legalized
marijuana, regulating and taxing it like beer, whiskey and
cigarettes. The problem of prison overcrowding would be relieved.
Families would be spared the nightmare of seeing their children
locked in cells.

Public sentiment for legal pot is spreading rapidly in America. A
Gallup poll in October found that 44 percent of adults now support
full legalization -- up 13 points since 2000. "The majority of
Americans could favor legalization of the drug in as little as four
years," Gallup commented.

In western states, more than half already back decriminalization. A
bill in California's legislature would allow legal sales, regulation
and taxation. Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger urged serious
debate of the question. The state's tax chief estimated that it would
bring $1.3 billion new revenue to the bankrupt state government.

Bills decriminalizing possession of small amounts of pot for personal
use have passed in 14 states. More than a dozen states now let
hundreds of "clinics" sell "medical marijuana" to people with
prescriptions for it -- and conservative columnist George Will says
the operations are mostly a sham, serving clients who "really just
want to smoke pot." Some of the "patients" arrive on bicycles,
skateboards and roller skates.

On the same day that Maine voters rejected gay marriage, they
overwhelmingly approved the sale of medical pot at state-licensed
outlets. And the American Medical Association recommended that the
federal government stop ranking marijuana alongside heroin as a
Schedule One dangerous drug.

America's culture is changing. Acceptance of pot is rising. During
the 2008 presidential campaign, Barack Obama nonchalantly admitted
puffing. "As a kid, I inhaled," he said. "That was the whole point."
As president, he halted federal prosecutions for medical marijuana
sales in states where it's legal.

Slowly, legalization is arriving. If West Virginia joined the trend,
plenty of revenue could be reaped from a major agriculture crop, and
taxpayers would save the costs of prosecution and incarceration.