IS LEGALIZATION OF POT ON THE WAY?

Whoever you are, I thank you for consuming my allotment of the 32
gallons of alcoholic beverages each Wisconsinite guzzles every year. I
couldn't have done it on my own. We have cheeseheads, but our beer
bellies are the reason we lead the nation in the percent of heavy
drinkers, binge drinkers and OWI. California may be No. 1 in dairy,
but when it comes to booze, well, we got 'em on that one.

Wisconsin's appetite for alcohol is not unique. Civilizations were
making wine in 1000 B.C. Mankind seems to have needs for mood-altering
substances, and ethanol has been a very widely culturally acceptable
recreational substance. Interestingly, we condemn "drug" use but
condone alcohol as a social norm.

Alcohol affects the central nervous system, causes changes in behavior
and is addictive; it's, therefore, a drug and a mind-altering drug
from the first sip. While the use of alcohol is fashionable, alcohol
is the third-leading lifestyle-related cause of death in the United
States, and in 2008 almost half of all traffic fatalities here were
related to alcohol. We acknowledge the lives ruined by alcohol but
defend its traditional status in our lives.

Given alcohol's high potential for abuse and without an acceptable
medical use, it logically should be a federally regulated Schedule I
Controlled Substance like marijuana. On the other hand, while alcohol
will never become a controlled substance, it is probable there
eventually will be Wisconsin initiatives to make marijuana, like
alcohol, a legal substance. Fifteen states and D.C. already have
legalized "medical" marijuana, and currently 10 states treat
possession of small amounts of marijuana as civil, rather than
criminal, offenses.

The proponents of legalization point out the there is little disparity
between the pharmacologic effects of marijuana and alcohol so there is
no logical reason to treat the two differently, especially when
marijuana is known to be less addictive than alcohol. They also
contend that marijuana, unlike alcohol, has established medical
benefits and that classifying marijuana as an illegal drug is an
exercise in futility for law enforcement that wastes taxpayer money
and police time.

It would not be surprising that given long-term budget deficits there
will be suggestions to raise revenue without increasing taxes by
holding our collective noses and legalizing marijuana to generate
income as we did in legalizing the lottery in 1988. That would make
sense to Milton Friedman and over 500 other economists who estimate
that marijuana legalization would yield $6.2 billion in tax revenue if
marijuana were taxed at rates comparable to those on alcohol and
tobacco. The saved $7.7 billion currently expended per year by
governments in controlling illegal marijuana would be spent on the
problems associated with widespread marijuana use.

Anyway, if ever legalized marijuana compounds our abundant problems
with alcohol, I pray that an obstacle to the easy acquisition of both
substances is established by mandating each can be obtained only at
Department of Motor Vehicle offices. That'll put a hitch in some habits.