THE CASE AGAINST LEGALIZING MARIJUANA IN CALIFORNIA

Advocates of legalizing marijuana have been blowing a lot of smoke in
the debate over California's Proposition 19.

For starters, there's the fiction that marijuana is no different from
alcohol. Indeed, the difference in health effects is striking.

The benefits of moderate alcohol consumption - reduced risk of heart
disease, stroke, gallstones, diabetes, and death from a heart attack
- - are well-documented. There's even evidence that alcohol helps keep
the mind sharp as one ages.

No one has ever associated pot consumption with mental acuity. Quite
the opposite: Marijuana use has been shown to impair memory and
inhibit learning ability. Among students, marijuana use is strongly
associated with lower test scores and lower educational attainment.
Chemically, marijuana is more like "harder" drugs - cocaine, heroin,
speed, and the psychedelics - than a glass of wine or a cocktail. One
study found that extended use may even lead to psychosis.

There are physical effects, too. Lung researchers report that smoking
a couple of joints does more damage than a whole pack of Marlboros,
and contains toxic compounds like ammonia and hydrogen cyanide. For
many, pot is addictive. A study in the Journal of the American
Medical Association found that more than 30 percent of pot smokers
were dependent on the drug to the point of demonstrating signs of
withdrawal and compulsive behavior. Reports from drug-abuse help
lines and treatment facilities show that marijuana addiction is a
major problem.

Negative social effects abound as well. Take crime. Amsterdam shows
what happens when marijuana is available, legally and in abundance.
Amsterdam is one of Europe's most violent cities, and Dutch officials
pin the blame on their liberal drug policies. A report by four
government ministries finds that drug-related crime places a heavy
burden on local authorities and that criminal organizations are
increasingly muscling their way into the drug market, using it as a
base for international operations.

As California debates legalization, Dutch officials are retooling
their laws and shutting down marijuana dispensaries "to tackle the
nuisance associated with them and manage crime risks more effectively."

Legalization hasn't helped the Dutch keep marijuana from minors
either. Marijuana use is higher among children there than anywhere
else in Europe.

Legalization also alters social norms. More Dutch children smoke pot
because the social stigma against it has dissipated. The same thing
will happen in California if Prop 19 is passed next month.

Prop 19 pushers argue that by taxing and regulating marijuana, the
state will reap a tax windfall. But the act would let every landowner
grow enough marijuana to produce 24,000 to 240,000 joints a year for
"personal consumption." Who would pay the $50-per-ounce tax on
marijuana (a 100 percent tax) when he could grow it himself or buy
some (illegally) from a neighbor.

Regular tobacco does not carry its economic weight. In 2007, the
government collected $25 billion in tobacco taxes but spent more than
$200 billion per year to cover health and other tobacco-related
costs. It is the same with alcohol: In 2007, governments collected
$14 billion in alcohol taxes but spent $185 billion to cover health,
crime, and other alcohol-related costs. The economics of legalized
marijuana will be no different, and perhaps worse.

Then there are the practical problems of Prop 19. Homeowners growing
pot in their backyards will become targets for pot thieves and
attendant crime, just as areas immediately around medical-marijuana
dispensaries have already experienced an uptick in crime. And there
remains the very real fact that possession, cultivation, and
consumption of marijuana are still crimes under federal law - an
inconvenient truth the act simply ignores. What are federal law
enforcement officers to do?

Legalizing marijuana would serve little purpose other than to worsen
the state's drug problems - addiction, violence, disorder, and death.
Nor will such legalization produce a tax windfall for the state;
rather, it will end up costing Californians billions in increased social costs.

Sound public policy should be based on facts, not smoke.