DECRIMINALIZE MARIJUANA, CUT PRISON COSTS

Last week, Gov. Bev Perdue announced a new research initiative, so
we're here to help her. Perdue is faced with the budget from hell, and
a prison population that's stretching the state's resources, and,
through overcrowding, its sense of human decency.

Perdue's new initiative, shared by the state, the federal Justice
Department, the Council of State Governments, and the Pew Center on
the States, is supposed to figure out how to cut costs while still
keeping the public safe. Specifically, the initiative will study the
reasons why many young people wind up in prison and recommend new
programs to get at the root causes of crime and repeat offenders.

Perdue's initiative seems like a good idea, and we're hoping the
groups involved will keep all options open and not shy away from
controversy. I wonder, however, just how open to new policies they can
really be. I ask this because there's one, surefire way to reduce the
prison population, and thus taxpayer costs, without releasing
dangerous, violent criminals back into our communities. It's called
decriminalizing the possession and use of marijuana.

I'd like to know how many more studies we need proving that pot
prohibition costs a fortune, seriously overburdens law enforcement all
over the country, and is a major factor in our prisons' overcrowding
before something is finally done? Governor, if you really want to
reduce prison costs, work with the legislature to repeal anti-pot laws
in North Carolina. Nationally, over 830,000 marijuana-related arrests
are made every year; more than 70,000 Americans are currently in
prison for possession or sale of pot. Think about that: 70,000
Americans, locked up for something that next to no one thinks is as
dangerous as alcohol.

Put plainly and simply, that's crazy.

Just as crazy is the fact that arrests for pot now outnumber arrests
for all violent crimes combined.

With prisons overcrowded and police departments and prosecutors barely
able to keep up with property crimes and violence, isn't it maybe a
little bit nuts to spend so much time and taxpayer money putting pot
smokers in jail?

According to the website BlueNC, noted UNC-Chapel Hill economist Art
Benavie, author of Drugs: America's Holy War, estimates that the U.S. is
wasting more than $70 billion per year by prosecuting the disastrous
"war on drugs."

No one knows precisely how much North Carolina spends each year
prosecuting pot cases and housing those who are convicted.

BlueNC, however, with the help of independent reporters in Wilmington,
came up with a rough figure of $5 million per year spent on the "drug
war" in Wilmington's New Hanover County alone. (Read here to see how
they came up with that figure: bluenc.com/dear-governor-perdue.) The
$5 million covers all drug-related prosecutions rather than just
marijuana busts, but still, it gives an idea of the vast amounts of
money being wasted on a policy that everyone knows is an utter failure.

A World Health Organization study established as a fact what anyone
with open eyes realized some time ago: Tough "war on drugs" policies
do not work, period.

The figures on marijuana use were particularly startling. Countries
with get-tough policies, notably the U.S. and New Zealand, led the
rest of the nations surveyed with 42.4 percent and 41.9 percent of the
population, respectively, saying they've used pot. By contrast, in
Holland, where adults can possess small amounts of pot and buy it from
regulated businesses, only 19.8 percent have used marijuana.

In the U.S., 20.2 percent of young people said they started smoking
pot by age 15; in Holland, it's only 7 percent.

Under Bush, the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy
responded to the WHO study by saying there's no connection between
drug enforcement and our national levels of drug use. Now, stop and
think about that statement for a minute: the White House said there is
no connection between drug enforcement and the nation's level of drug
use. That is what's called "giving away the game," i.e., it's a
straightforward, albeit inadvertent, admission that get-tough policies
do not work. The obvious question now is: Then why continue flushing
$70 billion down the toilet every year?

The country has been gradually moving toward pot decriminalization for
a couple of decades, particularly since some states began allowing the
sale of marijuana for medical purposes. (Lawmakers in N.C. are
currently fighting for it.) The Great Recession's demand for
tightening of purse strings could prove to be the tipping point for
legalizing pot. The latest polls from the Associated Press and CBS
show that 60 percent of Americans favor the use of medical marijuana,
and nearly half favor legalization for everyone.

In November, Californians will vote in a referendum to determine
whether it will decriminalize possession of small amounts of pot.

The U.S. tried alcohol prohibition for 13 years.

It brought a huge rise in organized crime, filled the jails of that
era, drove up the rate of drinking, and created younger and younger
alcoholics. The country saw that Prohibition didn't work, wised up,
and re-legalized alcohol.

So, today we have full-to-bursting jails, largely due to the failed
war on drugs. And Gov. Perdue wants to bring down crime- and
prison-related spending. Well, governor, just put two and two
together, and do the right thing.

Last week, Gov. Bev Perdue announced a new research initiative, so
we're here to help her. Perdue is faced with the budget from hell, and
a prison population that's stretching the state's resources, and,
through overcrowding, its sense of human decency.

Perdue's new initiative, shared by the state, the federal Justice
Department, the Council of State Governments, and the Pew Center on
the States, is supposed to figure out how to cut costs while still
keeping the public safe. Specifically, the initiative will study the
reasons why many young people wind up in prison and recommend new
programs to get at the root causes of crime and repeat offenders.
Perdue's initiative seems like a good idea, and we're hoping the
groups involved will keep all options open and not shy away from
controversy. I wonder, however, just how open to new policies they can
really be. I ask this because there's one, surefire way to reduce the
prison population, and thus taxpayer costs, without releasing
dangerous, violent criminals back into our communities. It's called
decriminalizing the possession and use of marijuana. I'd like to know
how many more studies we need proving that pot prohibition costs a
fortune, seriously overburdens law enforcement all over the country,
and is a major factor in our prisons' overcrowding before something is
finally done? Governor, if you really want to reduce prison costs,
work with the legislature to repeal anti-pot laws in North Carolina.
Nationally, over 830,000 marijuana-related arrests are made every
year; more than 70,000 Americans are currently in prison for
possession or sale of pot. Think about that: 70,000 Americans, locked
up for something that next to no one thinks is as dangerous as alcohol.

Put plainly and simply, that's crazy. Just as crazy is the fact that
arrests for pot now outnumber arrests for all violent crimes combined.

With prisons overcrowded and police departments and prosecutors barely
able to keep up with property crimes and violence, isn't it maybe a
little bit nuts to spend so much time and taxpayer money putting pot
smokers in jail?

According to the website BlueNC, noted UNC-Chapel Hill economist Art
Benavie, author of Drugs: America's Holy War, estimates that the U.S. is
wasting more than $70 billion per year by prosecuting the disastrous "war on
drugs."
No one knows precisely how much North Carolina spends each year prosecuting
pot cases and housing those who are convicted.

BlueNC, however, with the help of independent reporters in Wilmington,
came up with a rough figure of $5 million per year spent on the "drug
war" in Wilmington's New Hanover County alone. (Read here to see how
they came up with that figure: bluenc.com/dear-governor-perdue.) The
$5 million covers all drug-related prosecutions rather than just
marijuana busts, but still, it gives an idea of the vast amounts of
money being wasted on a policy that everyone knows is an utter failure.

A World Health Organization study established as a fact what anyone
with open eyes realized some time ago: Tough "war on drugs" policies
do not work, period. The figures on marijuana use were particularly
startling.

Countries with get-tough policies, notably the U.S. and New Zealand,
led the rest of the nations surveyed with 42.4 percent and 41.9
percent of the population, respectively, saying they've used pot. By
contrast, in Holland, where adults can possess small amounts of pot
and buy it from regulated businesses, only 19.8 percent have used marijuana.

In the U.S., 20.2 percent of young people said they started smoking
pot by age 15; in Holland, it's only 7 percent. Under Bush, the White
House Office of National Drug Control Policy responded to the WHO
study by saying there's no connection between drug enforcement and our
national levels of drug use. Now, stop and think about that statement
for a minute: the White House said there is no connection between drug
enforcement and the nation's level of drug use. That is what's called
"giving away the game," i.e., it's a straightforward, albeit
inadvertent, admission that get-tough policies do not work. The
obvious question now is: Then why continue flushing $70 billion down
the toilet every year? The country has been gradually moving toward
pot decriminalization for a couple of decades, particularly since some
states began allowing the sale of marijuana for medical purposes.
(Lawmakers in N.C. are currently fighting for it.) The Great
Recession's demand for tightening of purse strings could prove to be
the tipping point for legalizing pot. The latest polls from the
Associated Press and CBS show that 60 percent of Americans favor the
use of medical marijuana, and nearly half favor legalization for everyone.

In November, Californians will vote in a referendum to determine
whether it will decriminalize possession of small amounts of pot. The
U.S. tried alcohol prohibition for 13 years.

It brought a huge rise in organized crime, filled the jails of that
era, drove up the rate of drinking, and created younger and younger
alcoholics. The country saw that Prohibition didn't work, wised up,
and re-legalized alcohol.

So, today we have full-to-bursting jails, largely due to the failed
war on drugs.

And Gov. Perdue wants to bring down crime- and prison-related
spending.

Well, governor, just put two and two together, and do the right thing.
Part of this column was published in 2008.