ENDORSEMENTS 2010:

PROP. 19 DESERVES TO GO UP IN SMOKE

California ought to have a serious debate on whether to legalize
marijuana for personal use. If lawmakers won't confront the issue, it
might even be time for a ballot initiative to change the law.

Proposition 19 is not the right one.

The measure on the Nov. 2 ballot is full of worrisome loopholes and
ambiguities that would create a chaotic nightmare for law enforcement,
local governments and businesses. It is so poorly drafted, in fact,
that it almost makes you wonder: What were they smoking?

The measure would allow Californians 21 and older to possess up to an
ounce of marijuana and grow marijuana on up to 25 square feet of
private property. Supporters say it would control and tax marijuana.
It would do neither.

Indeed, many of the positives that proponents advertise aren't
actually written into the measure. For instance, they say that
legalization would generate a huge financial windfall for the state
and local governments by taxing $14 billion in annual illegal sales,
plus create thousands of jobs for California's struggling economy.
They cite the state Board of Equalization's estimate last year of $1.4
billion in annual tax revenues, enough to take a huge bite out of the
budget deficit.

But nowhere in the measure is a specific tax proposal. That issue is
left entirely to the Legislature and local governments, so there are
no guarantees about any pot taxes and whether they would be fair.

Supporters also argue that, like the end of failed prohibition of
alcohol, the proposition would free the criminal justice system of the
burden of prosecuting marijuana crimes.

But California effectively decriminalized most personal marijuana use
and possession 34 years ago. People caught with less an ounce of pot
and not charged with other crimes - typically are fined $100 or less
and rarely set foot in a courtroom, much less a jail.

This proposition would not magically end marijuana trafficking or put
drug cartels out of business. A study by the respected Rand Corp.
concluded that a sizable tax on pot - a bill introduced this year
called for $50 per ounce - could create a whole new black market for
cheaper drugs. Since it would still be illegal for those under 21 to
possess marijuana, the illicit trade to feed the teen market would
continue.

Another significant defect in the measure is that it grants too much
leeway to local governments to allow the possession and cultivation of
larger amounts by individuals - as well as to authorize commercial
marijuana farms, warehouses and retail stores. A mishmash of rules
would inevitably result, only multiplying the mess created by medical
marijuana dispensaries that have mushroomed across California.

The laws governing marijuana should be uniform across the state, as
they are for alcohol.

The passage of Proposition 19 would also saddle businesses with even
more legal murkiness in trying to keep marijuana-impaired employees
out of the workplace, especially from behind the wheel of school buses
or other jobs that could affect public safety. The active ingredient
in marijuana can stay in the body for weeks, so current widely
available tests can't tell how recently a worker might have inhaled.

The same uncertainty applies to enforcing driving-while-impaired laws.
The measure has no definition of what would constitute driving under
the influence of marijuana, unlike the 0.08 percent blood-alcohol
standard for drunken driving.

If this proposition passes, California would again be a national
pioneer - the first state to legalize marijuana for recreational use.
But it would put state law in direct conflict with federal law. The
Obama administration, which has taken a hands-off attitude on
medicinal marijuana, says legalization is "a non-starter." Gil
Kerlikowske, the national drug czar, told California police chiefs in
March that "marijuana use is harmful," that legalization would
increase abuse and that its social costs would outweigh any possible
tax revenue.

It's obvious that society's attitudes toward marijuana are now much
like they are toward alcohol and tobacco. More than 400,000
Californians use marijuana daily, according to the state.

California voters will likely get another chance to have their say on
legalization as soon as 2012. It would be shortsighted to support
Proposition 19 - a deeply flawed measure that would create many more
problems than it could hope to solve - just because it's the first one
to make the ballot.