IT'S TIME TO EASE LAW ON MARIJUANA

On June 4, the Connecticut State Senate passed, by a 19-18 vote, a
bill decriminalizing the possession of small amounts of marijuana. The
bill was then approved in the Connecticut House of Representatives and
will be sent to the governor for signature. Gov. Dannel Malloy is in
support of the bill.

According to a Harvard economist, Connecticut spends more than $130
million every year in enforcing marijuana prohibition laws. This is
real money that can be better spent in Connecticut.

Before I go any further, let me define decriminalization versus
regulation or legalization: Decriminalization is not regulation or
legalization.

Basically, decriminalization means that possession of a small quantity
of marijuana would not be a crime punishable by incarceration. A
person found in possession of the amount in question would be issued
an infraction -- similar to a traffic ticket. Subsequent offenses
would yield increased fines.

Regulation or legalization would be similar to the way we regulate,
say, alcohol, with strict controls on who can produce, distribute and
sell. Of course, taxing regulated marijuana enterprises would create
new, and significant, revenue streams to the state.

It is important to understand that while many arguments can be made to
support regulating marijuana, the current bill is not regulation. It
is about decriminalization.

Now, why would anyone advocate for decriminalizing marijuana use when
drug use and, more importantly, abuse, including abuse of legal
prescription drugs, is a serious problem in our society?

No one can argue that the effect on individuals, families, the
workplace, judicial and penal systems, and taxes is causing a strain
on society that is arguably one of the most serious concerns facing
our state and our nation.

Indeed, we need an honest public conversation about our national "war
on drugs." We need to recognize its failures and we need to change
course from the path we are on.

Marijuana, while a part of the overall conversation regarding drugs,
merits separate treatment. In fact, 13 states, including our neighbors
in Massachusetts and New York, have recognized this and decriminalized
marijuana. As a side note, 16 states and the District of Columbia
permit marijuana for medical use.

Recent statistics provided by the federal government state that almost
100 million Americans admit to having smoked marijuana. Of these, 20
million America ns smoked marijuana during the past year -- and these
are the people that admitted using marijuana. We must face the reality
that a large percentage of hard-working, tax-paying Americans are
marijuana users. Connecticut ought to recognize this reality and
decriminalize and, ultimately, regulate marijuana use.

The parallels of marijuana prohibition and alcohol prohibition are
pretty clear. Alcohol prohibition was a huge failure that gave rise to
organized crime in this country. Simply put, marijuana prohibition is
not working.

Study after study demonstrates that, generally speaking, marijuana is
safe and there is no credible evidence to suggest the use of marijuana
leads to using other drugs (the so-called "gateway" argument). In a
society that regulates alcohol and prescription drugs, the prohibition
on marijuana is illogical.

Worse yet, our current policy of prohibition encourages a disrespect
of the law. In a country where more than 100 million people admit to
using marijuana, we know that there are many more who do not admit to
using it and, in many cases, they are all willfully violating the law.
Recent statistics show that more than 800,000 Americans were arrested
on marijuana charges last year (almost 10,000 in Connecticut). More
than 5 million Americans have been arrested for marijuana offenses in
the past decade. Almost 90 percent of these arrests were for simple
possession, not trafficking or sale (in Connecticut more than 75
percent were for possession of less than a half-ounce).

A recent Quinnipiac University poll shows that Connecticut voters
support decriminalizing marijuana by a 65-32 margin.

These same people also favor legalizing medical marijuana for those
with doctors' recommendations -- another idea supported by Governor
Malloy -- by a whopping margin of 79-17.

Importantly, both proposals have majority support across political
parties and among all age groups.

The time has come for Connecticut to join the other states in
decriminalizing marijuana.

The House has passed this decriminalization legislation, and the
governor should sign it to be enacted into law.