LEGALIZE MARIJUANA, YES ON 19 - IT MAKES SENSE

"Prop 19 is about prioritizing our resources so we can meet the real
problems that California faces, while respecting the rights of adults
to make decisions free from government intrusion." - Former Seattle
Police Chief Norm Stamper

Like Chief Stamper, I support legalization of recreational marijuana
and will vote yes on Proposition 19, which would allow Californians
age 21 and older to possess up to one ounce of marijuana. Here's why:

. Marijuana prohibition is an utter, abject failure. Like alcohol
prohibition before it, people still use the banned substance. In a
2006 report published in Harm Reduction Journal, Ryan S. King and
Marc Mauer wrote that despite 30 years of "aggressively pursuing
marijuana," usage rates remain flat at about 6 percent of the U.S.
population. CNBC estimated that the U.S. marijuana market is worth
between $10 and $40 billion annually.

. Marijuana prohibition creates a hugely profitable market that gangs
exploit. Chief Stamper notes that "Marijuana sales in the United
States are the source of 60 percent of Mexican drug cartels' profit,
and the cartels use that money to subsidize more expensive drugs,
such as heroin and cocaine, which would otherwise be more expensive
due to transportation and production costs."

It's senseless to keep failed laws that help violent gangs subsidize
production, transportation and marketing of deadly drugs like heroin
and cocaine.

. The cost of enforcing marijuana prohibition is exorbitant. CNBC
reported on the 2010 study entitled "The Budgetary Implications of
Drug Prohibition" by Harvard's Jeffrey Miron: "... Legalizing
marijuana would save $13.7 billion per year in government expenditure
on enforcement of prohibition."

Don't forget the cost on our overburdened courts, jails and prisons.
King and Mauer estimated that in 2001 the nation spent $1.36 billion
"on the court processing of marijuana offenders." They also estimated
the annual cost to incarcerate the 27,900 people imprisoned for
marijuana offenses at $600 million. This does not include probation
and parole costs related to marijuana prohibition convictions.

. Marijuana is not a gateway drug. Numerous studies, including a
University of New Hampshire study released this month, dispute the
oft-repeated chestnut that marijuana is a "gateway drug" that leads
to use of other drugs. Here's the truth, put succinctly by the Drug
Policy Alliance: "Most marijuana users never use any other illegal
drug. Indeed, for the large majority of people, marijuana is a
terminus rather than a gateway drug."

In fact, as AlterNet's Scott Morgan wrote, there's no such thing as a
gateway drug: "The term was invented by hysterical anti-drug zealots
for the specific purpose of linking marijuana with harmful outcomes
that couldn't otherwise be established."

. Legal marijuana can be taxed. The nonpartisan state Legislative
Analyst's Office concluded that if Prop 19 passes, "state and local
governments could eventually collect hundreds of millions of dollars
annually in additional revenues."

. Europe's experience shows that decriminalization won't lead to
increased marijuana use. Cato Institute's Glenn Greenwald studied
Portugal, which decriminalized all drug use in 2001:
"Decriminalization has had no adverse effect on drug usage rates in
Portugal, which, in numerous categories, are now among the lowest in
the EU, particularly when compared with states with stringent
criminalization regimes."

John P. Morgan, M.D. and Lynn Zimmer, Ph.D. noted Holland's
experience: "Despite easy availability, marijuana prevalence among 12
to 18 year olds in Holland is only 13.6 percent - well below the 38
percent use-rate for American high school seniors."

. Current laws about recreational drugs are inconsistent. If your
recreational drug of choice is alcohol or tobacco, you're in luck.
You can enjoy that scotch and cigar without fear. If you prefer
marijuana, which is safer than tobacco and alcohol, you risk arrest
and imprisonment. This kind of inconsistency leads to widespread
disregard for laws and this kind of rank unfairness is un-American.

Let's restore sanity and fairness to California's drug laws and
pressure our federal lawmakers to follow our example. Let's heed the
lessons of alcohol prohibition: We cannot afford to enforce marijuana
prohibition and it's simply madness to subsidize violent drug cartels
by banning a substance that is safer than other already legal
recreational drugs like alcohol and tobacco. Let's use our heads, not
our guts, and legalize recreational marijuana use.

Yes on Prop 19.

"Even if one takes every reefer madness allegation of the
prohibitionists at face value, marijuana prohibition has done far
more harm to far more people than marijuana ever could." - William F.
Buckley, Jr.