DUO PUSHES RHODE ISLAND TO DECRIMINALIZE POT

PROVIDENCE, R.I.--A retired police officer and the proprietor of an
organic eatery make an odd couple when it comes to trying to overturn
marijuana laws in this tiny state, but Jack Cole and Josh Miller are
giving it their best shot. Mr. Cole, 71 years old, is a veteran of
decades with the New Jersey State Police, almost all with the drug
squad. Mr. Miller, 55, runs Local 121, a restaurant favored among
"buy local" diners, and also serves in the state Senate, where he
leads a special commission to study marijuana prohibitions. The panel
began hearings in January to discuss an overhaul of the state's pot
laws, starting with decriminalization of small amounts. As
legislators across the U.S. struggle to rescue state budgets hammered
by the recession, decriminalization is one idea gaining traction.
Advocates say states could cut costs of policing, prosecuting and
incarcerating offenders, and even raise money by taxing users.

"Any respect for this issue lies right now in its impact on the
budget," said Mr. Miller.

His committee will hear testimony Wednesday from Mr. Cole, the
founder of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, or LEAP, a national
lobby seeking an end to the drug war. LEAP's 10,000 members include
many former police officers, corrections workers and federal agents
of the Border Patrol and Drug Enforcement Administration.

Decriminalization faces resistance from district attorneys and police
departments that have grown used to making arrests and building
criminal cases in a longstanding war-on-drugs tradition, and often
equate decriminalization with being "soft" on crime.

The first steps state legislatures take tend to be narrow: legalizing
marijuana use for cancer or glaucoma patients, or allowing
municipalities to impose fines on casual smokers.

In California, one of 14 states that allow marijuana use for medical
purposes, legislators are weighing a bill to legalize most marijuana
sales and create tax and licensing fees for the industry. The measure
was approved by the state Assembly's Public Safety Committee last
month, but probably won't advance further this session.

New Hampshire is considering a pair of House bills, one to legalize
and tax pot sales, and another to decriminalize possession. A
medical-marijuana bill passed last year but was vetoed by the governor.

Decriminalization measures have also been introduced in Vermont,
Virginia and Washington, while medical-marijuana bills are being
considered in Maryland, Delaware and Wisconsin, among other states.
Mr. Miller said that in Rhode Island, which allows medical-marijuana
use, decriminalization was the next step. He noted that last month a
bill was introduced in the House to make possession of an ounce or
less a civil offense punishable by a fine of $100, rather than a
criminal offense. Rhode Island has run budget deficits of just over
$200 million in each of the past two years, and is looking at a $400
million deficit in the next fiscal year on a budget of $7 billion.
Savings from decriminalization wouldn't be great, Mr. Miller
conceded--say, $2 million to $3 million a year by freeing prison beds
occupied by pot offenders. Rhode Island spends about $33,000 a year per inmate.

Not everyone agrees with that math. Matthew Dawson, deputy chief of
the criminal division of the state attorney general's office,
testified before Mr. Miller's panel last month that the state would
achieve "zero savings" from decriminalization. He said police and
prosecutors employed criminal charges for possession to plea bargain
with suspects, and that suspects might otherwise have to be
prosecuted for more serious crimes, at greater cost to the state.
Others say possession charges help police cajole witnesses into
cooperating in criminal inquiries.

Mr. Miller said such arguments may persuade some of his colleagues,
but others would look to the decision two years ago in neighboring
Massachusetts to decriminalize pot, which raised hopes among some
legislators that a similar measure could pass in Rhode Island. "It's
not far-off California, but the big state next door," Mr. Miller said.

Mr. Cole traveled to Providence recently to help Mr. Miller craft a
strategy. He often wears a badge that reads: "Cops Say Legalize
Drugs. Ask Me Why." In his standard speech, he describes the epiphany
he experienced early in his career as an undercover narcotics
investigator. "I learned firsthand of the family-destroying
consequences of sending drug users [often mothers and fathers] to
jail. I can't think of a better policy for creating the next
generation of drug addicts than to remove parents from children," he
said. "I also realized that when police arrested a robber or rapist
they made the community safer for everyone but when I arrested a drug
pusher, I simply created a job opening for someone in a long line of
people willing to take his place."

Messrs. Cole and Miller agreed the former cop's presentation must
appeal to law-and-order politicians. Mr. Cole said the way to win
them over was to show that chasing pot smokers keeps police from
fighting other crimes. "Look at the clearance rates for these
crimes," he said. In the 1960s, before federal antidrug funds flowed
heavily to states, "91% of all murders in this country were solved.
Today, it's 61%." He cited similar drops for arson (60% unsolved)
robbery (75% unsolved) and rape (60% unsolved). Mr. Cole said the
national addiction rate has remained unchanged for a century at about
1.3% of the population. He concludes that if drugs are legalized, the
addiction rate would stay the same, "but we'll be spending a lot less
to manage it."