SOROS AND MARIJUANA LEGALIZERS ARE SMOKING SOMETHING

In "Why I Support Legal Marijuana" (op-ed, Oct. 26), George Soros
implies that all marijuana arrests are "for possession of small
amounts of marijuana." This is untrue. In 2008, according to the FBI,
there were 14,005,615 arrests in the U.S., of which 1,702,537 (12.2%)
were drug arrests. Of this number, a sizable portion (44.3%), as Mr.
Soros notes, was for marijuana possession. FBI data, while they
contain code violations, do not describe the amounts of drugs involved.

Incarceration rates provide a better metric. A federal study published
in 2004 found that 0.7% of state prison inmates are incarcerated for
marijuana possession only.

Mr. Soros advocates taxing marijuana but consumption taxes work best
for commodities not easily produced in one's private garden or basement.

Perhaps Mr. Soros might tell us when, if ever, suppliers of a
commodity were "weakened" by increased demand for their commodity.

While praising California's 1996 medical marijuana law, Mr. Soros
forgets that provisions to limit the drug's access to patients with
serious diseases were never enforced. Officials claim that as many as
1,000 medical marijuana "dispensaries" may be operating unlawfully in
Los Angeles alone.

Citing dwindling resources, California's legislature recently
decriminalized the possession of small amounts of marijuana by adults.
Without adequate resources to meet today's public safety needs as well
as those of the 1996 law, one is moved to ask where the resources will
come from to enforce the many provisions of Proposition 19.

John J. Coleman

Clifton, Va.

Mr. Coleman served as assistant administrator at the U.S. Drug
Enforcement Administration before retiring in 1997.