LEGALIZE, REGULATE MARIJUANA

There have been several alarming crimes in the news recently,
reportedly linked to the burgeoning marijuana industry. The lurid
headlines are leading some to believe that Montana's medical
marijuana system is broken or even hopeless. Clearly, some changes
are needed. The ultimate fix, however, is eluding most coverage.

Medical cannabis didn't "cause" the crimes mentioned. Cannabis is
just a plant, used from time to time by some 100,000 Montanans for
medical, spiritual, personal or social reasons.

It's just a plant, but a plant that sells for more than any other
herb or spice on the market. Why?

It takes some skill and experience to reliably grow high-quality
cannabis indoors. But cannabis requires no fancy laboratory
processing, no dangerous chemicals, and no special tools or equipment
beyond those needed for basic indoor gardening.

It's just a plant, less toxic than aspirin, less addictive than
caffeine, and less intoxicating than alcohol.

It's just a plant, but because of the black market, it still sells
for $250 to $400 per ounce. For perspective, a single tomato can
weigh several ounces.

When you have dried flowers that command prices in the range of
precious metals, it is simply inevitable that violent thugs will
break the law to steal, hoard, defend and profit from it.

Medical marijuana, while a blessing to many, leaves the criminal
black market intact, which keeps prices high. That's the reason for
the violent crimes we've seen recently, not the plant itself.

The solution? Regulate cannabis in a manner similar to how we control
beer and wine.

Under such a system, licensed producers would be allowed to sell to
licensed retailers who would be responsible for age verification of
their customers. These businesses would pay annual licensing fees,
sales would be taxed (raising an estimated

$24 million annually) and we'd allow adults to produce a personal
amount in private (just as we do with beer and wine). There would
continue to be strict penalties for driving under the influence.

Under such a system, the seemingly bottomless well of medical
marijuana gray areas would be eliminated, the black market would be
virtually extinguished, and cannabis would become much harder for
kids to buy because retailers would check IDs (and it would continue
to be a crime to provide marijuana to minors).

Unbuoyed by prohibition, prices would fall and people for whom
marijuana is medicine would immediately benefit from ready access
from multiple licensed retailers. If the experience of numerous other
states and countries is any guide, general usage rates would not go up.

Regulating cannabis more like alcohol would also embrace principles
of individual liberty and privacy envisioned and enshrined in our
nation's and state's constitutions.

Despite the recent headlines, we don't have a "medical marijuana
crime problem" - we have a prohibition-related crime problem that is
making the news because marijuana is legal for a small segment of the
population. If you want to get control of the Prohibition-style
gangster violence, the solution is to regulate marijuana similarly to
beer and wine for all responsible adults.