REPUBLICAN LEADS ON MARIJUANA REFORM

Virginia is one of 18 states where the government operates a monopoly
on the distribution and sale of hard liquor. Virginia's Alcohol
Beverage Control stores are a holdover from alcohol prohibition.
Lasting from 1920 to 1933, alcohol prohibition was repealed when it
became clear that prohibition was financing organized crime while
failing miserably at preventing alcohol use.

Making the case for ABC privatization, Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell has
argued that selling alcohol is not a core government responsibility.
Neither is criminalizing people who use marijuana.

Virginia brings in $324 million a year from alcohol sales. Marijuana
prohibition, on the other hand, squanders tax dollars and creates
opportunity costs as police focus efforts on non-violent consensual
vices. Virginia police made 19,764 arrests for marijuana offenses in
2009. Six percent of all Virginia arrests are for marijuana offenses.
Police time spent busting marijuana consumers is time not spent going
after child molesters, rapists and murderers.

Virginia legislators will soon get a chance to end this misuse of
police resources. Virginia Del. Harvey Morgan (R-Gloucester) has
proposed a bill to decriminalize marijuana possession in the 2011
General Assembly session. HB 1443 would replace criminal penalties for
simple possession with a civil fine of $500. The bill does not reduce
penalties for cultivation or distribution. Courts would still have the
option of mandating substance abuse treatment for at-risk youth.

In the face of continued budget woes, Virginia legislators need to ask
themselves a simple question. Which is the bigger priority? Locking up
nonviolent marijuana offenders or saving the jobs of police officers,
firefighters and teachers? The cost of incarcerating three marijuana
offenders for a year more than covers the salary of a police officer,
firefighter or teacher. Del. Morgan's bill would save on criminal
justice costs and generate millions in new revenue.

Harvey Morgan is no dope-smoking hippy; in fact he is ideally suited
to push the envelope on this once controversial but increasingly
mainstream issue. Morgan is a Republican and, more important, an
assistant clinical professor of pharmacy at Virginia Commonwealth
University's medical school. His bill is grounded in legitimate
clinical expertise and fiscal conservatism.

Marijuana decriminalization admittedly faces an uphill battle in
Virginia. A more ambitious bill never got out of committee during the
last session. The upcoming session will be very different. A push to
outlaw the retail sale of potentially toxic chemical highs guarantees
a robust debate and changes to Virginia's Drug Control Act. This
presents an opportunity for marijuana law reform.

If enough people contact their elected officials, legislators will be
compelled to decriminalize marijuana. The continued economic downturn
will force policymakers to rethink priorities. Not coincidentally,
alcohol prohibition was repealed during the Depression.

Make no mistake, marijuana prohibition is a cultural inquisition, not
a public health campaign. If health outcomes determined drug laws
instead of cultural norms, marijuana would be legal. Unlike alcohol,
marijuana has never been shown to cause an overdose death, nor does it
share the addictive properties of tobacco.

Marijuana can be harmful if abused, but criminal records are
inappropriate as health interventions and ineffective as deterrents.
States that have decriminalized marijuana do not have higher rates of
use than states that criminalize users. The U.S. has double the rate
of marijuana use as the Netherlands, where marijuana is legally
available. This is the type of abject government failure that should
outrage proponents of limited government. Tax dollars are being wasted
on a failed government program. Public safety resources are being
diverted to further a punitive nanny state built upon a hypocritical
version of morality.

The ideological arguments being used to make the case for Alcohol
Beverage Control privatization apply to marijuana law reform.
Criminalizing citizens who prefer marijuana to martinis is not an
appropriate role for government.

Fiscally conservative Republicans and tea partiers who truly believe
in liberty and limited government will support marijuana
decriminalization. Democrats who privately support marijuana law
reform but fear the soft-on-drugs label need to get smart-on-drugs and
get behind HB 1443. They've got a conservative Republican leading the
way for them.

Bottom line, Virginia can no longer afford to subsidize the prejudices
of culture warriors.