CONSERVATIVE REPUBLICAN LEADS EFFORT TO DECRIMINALIZE MARIJUANA

Virginia is one of 18 states where 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1920 to 1933, Prohibition was repealed when it became clear that it
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.

State alcohol sales generate state revenue. 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. Del. Harvey Morgan has proposed a bill to
decriminalize marijuana possession in the upcoming 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
non-violent 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. Morgan's bill would save on criminal justice
costs and generate millions in new revenue.

Del. 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 member of the General
Assembly 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. Big-government culture warriors will no doubt oppose HB
1443. 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.
Studies show that 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.