FRAMING THE POT QUESTION

Whether marijuana legalization succeeds with Colorado voters depends
on how it is proposed and how pot would be regulated.

Ballots from this month's general election are still being counted in
some races, yet marijuana activists already are talking about asking
Colorado voters in 2012 to legalize the drug.

Given the sham of a system we now have for medical marijuana, it might
be a worthy debate. Still, there are important policy implications to
consider in the coming years, lessons to be learned from California's
recent experience with a losing pot legalization measure, and
questions that need to be answered.

The first question: Should the marijuana activists be the ones writing
drug laws? More precisely, if a question is to go on the ballot, who
should write it and with what purpose in mind?

Think about Colorado's experience with medical marijuana, and the
uncertain and messy landscape state lawmakers were left to deal with
this past session as they tried to impose reasonable restrictions on
pot distribution. The ambiguity in defining medical caregivers and
other issues is a result of a purposefully vague constitutional
amendment passed by voters in 2000.

This is something to think about as marijuana legalization advocates
push their agendas. Is it good public policy for all of Colorado, or
is it good public policy for them?

The vote in California earlier this month, in which voters shot down
legalization by a 54-46 margin, offers other food for thought. A
post-election survey found that 31 percent of those who voted against
Proposition 19, which would have legalized marijuana, actually favor
legalization or penalty reduction.

So why did it fail?

One development that hurt the measure's chances was the declaration by
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder that the federal government would
remain "firmly committed" to enforcing federal drug laws regardless of
whether it passed. We can't imagine the government's position will
change much by 2012, and we wonder how Coloradans would react to such
statements.

The other thing that hurt Prop 19 was the perception that it did not
tax, regulate and control marijuana, despite proponents' claims.

Recent news reports in Colorado in which some educators are
questioning whether a sharp rise in drug offenses in schools is
attributable to medical marijuana could be devastating to legalization
efforts. Yet a recent Denver Post/9News poll showed likely and actual
voters support marijuana legalization by a slim margin.

We've often said the national war on drugs is a failure. But that
doesn't mean we favor mindlessly legalizing general marijuana use and
possession at the state level.

Marijuana would need to be heavily taxed, to discourage overuse, and
regulated to keep potencies within specified limits. And we've long
believed those are jobs better handled by the federal government.

Whether legalization ultimately succeeds with voters is going to
depend a lot upon how it is framed and controlled.