VIRGINIA SHOULD LEGALIZE MARIJUANA

It's not just "left coast" states like California and Washington that
are considering marijuana law reforms to help balance state budgets.
For the first time in years, the Virginia General Assembly will
consider common-sense marijuana law reform. House Bill 1134 would
replace criminal penalties for simple marijuana possession with a
civil penalty of $500.

The bill's sponsor is no dope-smoking hippy; in fact, he is uniquely
qualified to push the envelope. Del. Harvey Morgan is a Republican
member of the Virginia General Assembly and an assistant clinical
professor of pharmacy at Virginia Commonwealth University's medical
school. His bill is grounded in legitimate clinical expertise and
much-needed fiscal conservatism.

Marijuana decriminalization would reap tens of millions of dollars,
saving the jobs of police, firefighters and teachers in the process.
There were 19,911 marijuana arrests in Virginia in 2008. Those arrests
would have generated $9,955,500 in revenue if a civil penalty of $500
were in place.

Instead, almost 20,000 people were burdened with criminal records. The
opportunity costs associated with the zero-tolerance approach are
tremendous. Police, court and jail time, not to mention the lost tax
revenue from busted users who now face lifelong diminished employment
opportunities, together represent untold millions of tax dollars down
the drain.

Culture warriors who favor criminalizing Virginians who prefer
marijuana to martinis will no doubt oppose HB 1134. They'll claim that
marijuana use will skyrocket if the bill becomes law. Not true.
Studies show that states that have decriminalized marijuana do not
have higher rates of use than states that penalize users. Marijuana
penalties have little, if any, impact on rates of use.

Opponents will further claim that drug treatment programs are filled
with marijuana "addicts." The truth is that record numbers of citizens
arrested for marijuana possession have been forced into treatment by
our criminal justice system. The resulting distortion of treatment
statistics is used by shameless drug warriors to make the claim that
marijuana is "addictive."

The jail-threat coercion of marijuana consumers into treatment says a
lot about government priorities, but absolutely nothing about the
relative harms of marijuana. If health outcomes determined drug laws
instead of cultural norms, marijuana would be legal already. Unlike
alcohol, marijuana has never been shown to cause an overdose death,
nor does it share the addictive properties of tobacco. Like any drug,
marijuana can be harmful if abused, but criminal records are
inappropriate as health interventions and ineffective as deterrents.

Of course, the biggest drug war ruse of all is the infamous "gateway"
theory. Opponents of marijuana law reform will inevitably claim that
marijuana is a "gateway" drug, the use of which leads to heroin and
crack addiction. HB 1134 contains incentives for small-scale personal
cultivation that would lead consumers to grow their own. That's a good
thing. Organized crime would take a big hit.

We should be undermining drug cartels, not subsidizing
them.

HB 1134 is a long overdue step in the right direction. At a time when
state and local governments are laying off police, firefighters and
teachers, Virginia continues to squander scarce public resources
criminalizing otherwise law-abiding marijuana consumers.

Fiscally conservative Republicans who believe in liberty and limited
government support marijuana decriminalization. Democrats who
privately support marijuana law reform but live in fear of the
soft-on-drugs label need to get smart-on-drugs, grow a spine already
and get behind this bill.

Looming budget cuts threaten public safety, education and health.
Virginia can no longer afford to subsidize the prejudices of culture
warriors.