WIND DOWN THE DRUG WAR

WASHINGTON -- In 2000, Hollywood released a critically acclaimed and
(I thought) important movie, "Traffic," about the futility of the
so-called war on drugs. I was naive enough to believe it would spark a
national conversation about the stupidity of our generations-long
policy of drug prohibition.

It didn't. We continued as we had since the 1960s: locking up drug
offenders, spending countless billions on police and prisons, and
abetting the devastating violence that attends the market in illegal
narcotics. The United States, with about 5 percent of the world's
population, accounts for nearly 25 percent of its prisoners -- many of
them drug offenders.

But in Tuesday's midterm elections, Californians have an opportunity
to finally give the country a shove in the right direction. If they
approve Proposition 19, which would make it legal to possess and grow
small quantities of marijuana for personal use, they will start to
wind down the war on drugs.

Nationwide, marijuana, the most widely used illicit drug, accounts for
around 45 percent of drug arrests. If Californians decide to legalize
pot, other states will surely follow suit -- a development that would
free police to pursue more serious offenders, open up prison space and
spur the decriminalization of other narcotics. It might also lead to a
new revenue source for cash-strapped cities and states.

None of that would happen immediately. State and local authorities in
California would still have to sort out countless details, including
whether to allow the sale of marijuana and collect taxes. U.S.
Attorney General Eric Holder has added to the uncertainty by insisting
he will continue to enforce federal drug laws. But in a time of tight
budgets and redirected priorities, Holder's reactionary stance may
prove short-lived.

Counting federal, state and local funds, the United States spends
about $45 billion a year to enforce drug prohibition. That's money
that we could have spent on education and bridges and bullet trains
and research to cure dread diseases.

Meanwhile, Americans continue to demand mind-altering substances.
(Among others, the Mexican government complains that it cannot stop
drug cartels unless Americans stop purchasing their drugs.) In 1979,
according to government statistics, about 25 million Americans over
the age of 12 used an illicit narcotic. By 2009 -- with hundreds of
billions spent and hundreds of thousands incarcerated -- 22 million
Americans over the age of 12 used an illicit narcotic.

This losing war has a high casualty rate, especially in communities of
color. Though research indicates black Americans and Latinos are less
likely to use drugs than whites, countless studies have shown that
they are much more likely than whites to be arrested and prosecuted.
The high incarceration rate for black men helps to explain much of the
dysfunction in poor black neighborhoods: Imprisoned black men make
poor fathers, husbands and providers.

The Drug Policy Alliance, which favors legalization, recently released
a study of marijuana arrests in various California municipalities.
While Latinos were three times as likely to be arrested as whites,
blacks were subject to rates of arrest anywhere from four to 12 times
higher than whites, depending on the city. That's why the California
chapter of the NAACP, the National Black Police Association and the
National Latino Officers Association have all endorsed Proposition
19.

Given the violence associated with the drug trade, especially in poor
urban neighborhoods, you might be surprised that any police groups
would favor legalizing a narcotic. But the violence is a consequence
of the black market. The prohibition of alcohol created criminal
enterprises and a wave of well-known gangsters like Al Capone. Laws
prohibiting narcotics have had a similar outcome.

Wouldn't legalizing marijuana just lead to more usage? Yes, it
probably would. But scientific studies have shown that marijuana use
is, generally speaking, no more detrimental than alcohol use. The
predictable consequences of increased consumption can be handled by a
law enforcement establishment already well-trained in handling alcohol
intoxication.

Here's hoping California ends its modern-day reefer madness by
legalizing marijuana.