STATES COULD BREAK MARIJUANA TABOO

For the time being, Missourians can consider last November's defeat
of Proposition 19, a California ballot initiative to legalize and
regulate the personal use of marijuana, as none of their business.
But as this debate spreads outward from California it will, sooner or
later, reach Missouri.

Having started the war on marijuana, the federal government is the
enforcer of the status quo -- even as opinion polls show the public's
desire for change. So, it is up to the states, one-by-one, to replace
failed drug war policies with something that makes sense. To see how
the future marijuana legalization debate might spread, let's consider
the work of professor Everett M. Rogers.

Rogers says the launch of a new idea requires an adventuresome idea
champion willing to deal with a lot of uncertainty. A handful of
"early adopters" will follow suit. Then, after waiting and carefully
watching what happens, the majority of the potential "late adopters"
are likely to give the new idea a try. A few "laggards" might never adopt it.

Proposition 19 nearly passed in 2010 with 46 percent of the vote. If
in 2012 a similar initiative wins 51 percent and California becomes
the first state to legalize marijuana, states already familiar with
marijuana policy issues will likely take a fresh look at marijuana
legalization.

These states include Alaska and Nevada, where past attempts to
legalize marijuana failed but medical marijuana laws have been
adopted, and those states that have approved the use of marijuana for
medical purposes: Arizona, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Michigan,
Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont,
Washington state and the District of Columbia. Legislatures in
Connecticut, New Hampshire and Minnesota passed medical marijuana
bills only to have them vetoed by the governors.

Massachusetts, Mississippi, Nebraska, New York, North Carolina and
Ohio have reduced the possession of a small amount of marijuana for
personal use from a criminal act to a finable civil infraction. They
too are early adopter candidates.

After watching what happens in these early adopter states, according
to Rogers, the remaining "late adopter" states -- including Missouri
- -- will finally consider whether or not to legalize and regulate the
personal use of small amounts of marijuana in a manner similar to the
way alcohol and tobacco are now regulated.

The marijuana legalization debate in California is a public education
process. Ethan Nadelmann, director of the Drug Policy Alliance, says,
"The greatest challenge is to break the taboo on vigorous, honest and
open debate about all drug policy options, that's what drug war
advocates most fear." And that is exactly the service Proposition 19
delivered last year in California. It got people talking about the
issue in an open and honest way.

For this reason, California is doing the entire nation and the people
of Missouri a great service by seeking drug-control policies that
will greatly reduce criminal violence, increase tax revenues and
permit sensible regulation of a substance that is now acquired
through illicit, underground channels.