REMOVE POT FROM THE WAR ON DRUGS

Let's get this marijuana thing over with, shall we? California took
the next step toward decriminalization earlier this week in a 4-3 vote
by the Assembly Public Safety Committee - the first legislative body
in the nation supporting recreational pot use.

AB390 would overhaul of the state's marijuana laws and allow
possession, sale and cultivation of marijuana for people over 21 while
imposing a $50-an-ounce sales tax, much like taxes on tobacco and
alcohol. The billions of dollars in revenue this would generate might
be one way for the state to help solve its "chronic" budget problem.

Law enforcement is largely opposed. Claude Cook, regional director of
the National Narcotics Officers Associations Coalition, predicted
downright disaster were the bill to pass. "Use by juveniles will
increase," he warned, "Organized crime will flourish. The cartels will
thrive."

Sorry, Claude, but what you're predicting is happening already. If you
legalize it, you've decriminalized it, which means criminals will move
on to something else, which is why similar warnings never materialized
after Prohibition's repeal in 1933.

Think "free market." Organized crime traffics where the competition
doesn't. It sells to whomever it wants, including juveniles, because
no incentive exists to restrict sales to adults (restrictions that a
regulated market would impose). Crooks can't compete in the
free-market transaction of goods and services that are legal;
otherwise they'd be legitimate businessmen, not lawbreaking thugs.

And, should organized crime try to duck the sales tax by selling
bootleg buds, they'd face far more serious foes since, as we all know,
the one thing more venomous than a drug cartel is the IRS. (Just ask
Al Capone).

San Mateo Police Chief Susan Manheimer said she was "disappointed" by
the committee's action, claiming that the state's approach for
handling marijuana has been effective. Really?

In 2007, California saw 74,000 pot busts - 80 percent for mere
possession. That same year, over 166,000 violent crimes went unsolved
in the state.

In 2007, California counties seized 1.9 million outdoor pot plants and
98,000 indoor ones. In 2009, the unofficial numbers were 7 million and
140,000, respectively.

Try Googling "largest pot bust in history" or "record pot bust." We
get new ones every year, which raises two questions: If each year
brings a new record pot bust, how can the war on drugs be working, and
second, why haven't the Guinness Book people called?

The war on drugs, particularly the public policy of marijuana
prohibition, is a total failure. Want a real war on drugs? Start
raiding Mommy and Daddy's medicine cabinet. (That is, if their kids
aren't already doing it.)

Stop wasting money fighting recreational pot use and start making
money by decriminalizing it. It's the state's largest cash crop. Let
the private sector grow it, place the same restrictions on it we have
for alcohol and cigarettes, let the government tax it, and let law
enforcement police the abuse, rather than use, of it. In addition,
you'll see:

. A reallocation of interdiction funding towards more serious drugs,
like meth.

. Reduced prison costs by not sending pot smokers to
jail.

. A new job sector as private industry hires people to grow, process,
package and market the product (just as tobacco companies do).

. An additional billion dollars which, among other things, would ease
police layoffs.

How many officers could Chief Manheimer hire with a billion dollars?
More to the point, how many officers' jobs would be spared? How might
such revenue be directed toward prevention, treatment and education,
which has proven dramatically successful in reducing, not increasing,
teen smoking?

Will usage increase with the passage of AB390? Probably, but probably
because regular users who feared buying it illegally will buy it more
frequently once it's legal. It certainly won't create a new crop of
users since anyone who wants to try it already can, as any teen can
tell you. Parents, not police, can deal with that issue. They already
have, as they have with far more addictive legal drugs, including
alcohol and tobacco. They'll continue to do so whether pot is
decriminalized or not.

Policymakers must distinguish between ideas that sound good and good
ideas that are sound.

The war on drugs is an idea that sounds good, but it is not a good
idea that is sound.

Frankly, decriminalizing pot would require a level of honesty and
pragmatism that is mostly lacking in our elected leaders. So no matter
what you smoke (or don't smoke) don't hold your breath waiting for
lawmakers to address this issue.