THE PROHIBITION OF MARIJUANA ONLY SEEMS TO CAUSE MORE USE

The recent vote defeating California's Proposition 19, legalizing the
use of marijuana regrettably prolongs a drug policy that does not
work. Low-level users will continue to be targeted rather than the
drug cartels and drug lords who run free.

Proposition 19 was voted down by a margin of 56 to 44 percent on Nov.
2. The attempt by its supporters to legalize the recreational sale and
use of marijuana would have allowed local governments to regulate and
tax the commercial production, distribution and sale of marijuana to
adults. Sale to minors would have been illegal, as well as use on
school premises, in public settings, and in the presence of minors.

The push for marijuana to be legalized will not stop because of the
failure of Proposition 19. Organizers say they will be back in two
years, and it will only be a matter of time until marijuana does
become legalized. Denying legalization means the continuation of drug
trafficking between borders and gang violence. The illegal sale of
marijuana on neighborhood street corners and in front of public
libraries frequented by children will also persist.

"People are realizing that the war on marijuana and the war on drugs
is a failed strategy," said Alex Kreit, Thomas Jefferson School of Law
professor who pushed for Proposition 19, on the school's Facebook
page. "We've been pursuing it for 40 years and marijuana is just as
available now as it was 40 years ago."

Billions of dollars in enforcement and incarceration costs could be
saved, and taxation could bring in much needed revenue to
cash-strapped states. With current drug laws unfairly targeting
low-level drug offenders, who are disproportionately black and Latino
youth, legalization would begin to address this wrong.

Although marijuana was originally included in the list of drugs the
Rockefeller laws prohibited, it was decriminalized in 1977. However,
New York is still considered the "drug arrest capital of the world"
and marijuana is the most widely available drug in the state.

New York State's versions of a medical marijuana bill have been
sitting in the state Legislature since 2009. The bills sponsored by
Sen. Thomas Duane (D-Manhattan) in the Senate and by Richard Gottfried
(D-Manhattan) in the Assembly, are not likely to move into law any
time soon in light of the defeat in California. Governor-elect Andrew
Cuomo did not help matters when he announced he would not support
medical marijuana legislation.

Albany will, however, be keeping a watchful eye on neighboring New
Jersey where medical marijuana was approved earlier this year. Success
in New Jersey may spur the New York legislature forward on the issue.
The possibility of New Yorkers flocking to New Jersey to purchase
medical marijuana may also move the legislation ahead.

In a surprising vote, Arizona narrowly approved legalized medical
marijuana by 4,341 votes on Nov. 14. This makes Arizona the 15th state
in the nation to approve the measure; California was the first in 1996.

"Although a majority of Americans have consistently opposed the idea
of legalizing marijuana, public support has slowly increased over the
years," said Joseph Carroll, Gallup Poll assistant director, of the
last poll conducted on this issue in 2005, on Gallup's Web site. "In
1969, just 12 percent of Americans supported making marijuana legal,
but by 1977, roughly one in four endorsed it. Support edged up to 31
percent in 2000, and now, about a third of Americans say marijuana
should be legal."

One step in the right direction in winning the war on drugs is
creating laws for marijuana similar to those currently in place for
tobacco and alcohol. Put warning labels on it, make it illegal for
minors, make marketing to minors a crime, and make driving under the
influence punishable.

The prohibition of marijuana is not working. Just as the prohibition
of alcohol was repealed because it led to increased crime, the
prohibition of marijuana must end.