STUDENTS MIXED ABOUT POT TAXES, LEGALIZATION

A New Study Examining the Economics of Pot Raises Questions About Legalization.

Depression, chronic pain, insomnia, stress.

For these and almost anything else that ails you, an alleged umbrella
cure has emerged. It's not a magical pill, Eastern medicine or the
latest marvel - it's marijuana.

But a new study shows marijuana's usage goes beyond medicinal; the
drug can be helpful in the economic realm as well.

Jon Gettman, a longtime policy analyst who holds a Ph.D. in public
policy, has published a new study contending that legalizing
marijuana would create tax revenue and save taxpayers millions of
dollars. If marijuana were legalized and taxed, similar to alcohol
and other commodities, those who use the drug would be paying the
taxes, he said.

The study found that the United States is losing $30 million to
underground marijuana sales and diverting money from the regional
economy, Gettman said.

"Right now, the people who are profiting most, the growers and
sellers, are not paying a dime for the problems their industry
creates," he said.

College and high school students are the ones most affected by
marijuana's illegal status, Gettman said.

"Who do you think gets busted the most? College and high school
kids," he said. "The arrest rate for teens or young adults is three
or four times higher than the rest of the public."

Gettman said he believes youths working to legalize marijuana is
"good citizenship."

"The law hits people who are vulnerable," he said. "College kids need
to realize that this affects them as taxpayers down the road."

Gettman was attracted to the cause because, as a teenager, he worked
in a drug paraphernalia store for eight years, where he said he
discovered the positive effects marijuana can have on sick people.

"I thought I ought to be working on the underlying problem as a
matter of social responsibility," he said.

Gettman became the national director of the National Organization for
the Reform of Marijuana Laws in 1986 and said he was inspired by the
compassion and dedication of those who worked there and fought for
people who needed marijuana for medical purposes.

He went on to create the Coalition for Rescheduling Cannabis in 2002,
which consists of medical marijuana users and nonprofit groups who
represent patients. Gettman then launched Drugscience.org to post
information about the legal rescheduling process and cannabis reform.

The coalition's main concern is getting marijuana changed from a
Schedule I drug to a Schedule II or III drug, Gettman said.
Scheduling refers to the medicinal properties a substance provides,
its likelihood to be abused, the risk of users becoming physically
and mentally dependent and the consequences of misuse. Schedule I
classifies a substance as having no medicinal properties and a high
likelihood of abuse and addiction.

Substances listed as such include LSD, heroin and MDMA, the main
ingredient of the drug ecstasy. Schedule II drugs, controlled
substances with high potential for abuse such as morphine, are
approved for medical use with strict limitations. Schedule III drugs
have lower risks of abuse and addiction.

The process to have marijuana reclassified could be lengthy and tedious.

"Patients who need marijuana shouldn't have to wait between 10 and 12
years for complicated administrative processes to take place," Gettman said.

As of now, the Food and Drug Administration does not recognize
marijuana's medicinal use, and a perceived increase in its usage has
refueled the decades-long debate over the legalization of the drug.

Complicating matters, prescriptions to purchase and consume marijuana
are being handed out like candy in California.

One USC student, who was first prescribed medicinal marijuana at 18
years old, said the process "was one of the easiest things I've ever
done in my life."

The student, who received his prescription on Cahuenga Boulevard in
Los Angeles, said he walked into the clinic with $150 and his
driver's license. A secretary "rubbed his shoulders" and told him he
"had come to the right place."

While the student, who declined to give his name, said he told the
doctor he needed the prescription to ease chronic back pain, he
admitted to having an ulterior primary goal.

"I got it to smoke pot," he said. "Whether or not it was for a medical reason."

He did have chronic back pain, however, and "it actually did help my
back," he said.

Legalization, Regulation or a Pinch of Both?

Esther Kim, the manager of the California Caregivers Association, a
medicinal marijuana center located in West Los Angeles, said the
clinic was opened to help people who suffer from cancer, insomnia and
chronic pain.

The CCA sees 60 to 70 walk-in clients per day, Kim said.

"We're told by the patients themselves that [marijuana] really works
for them," she said. "Many people consider it a taboo and assume it
is abused, and they don't know it's being used as medicine."

But Kim said she supports a move toward cannabis regulation, not its
legalization.

"I don't think marijuana should be completely legal," she said.
"Safety rules should be attached to it as well."

Legalizing marijuana won't change how people act, said Bruce
Margolin, director of the Los Angeles chapter of National
Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.

"Everyone already does it," he said. "If it were legalized, people
would sell it and buy it like they do tomatoes."

Proponents of medical marijuana have been pushing for its
legalization for years. In 1996, California voters passed Proposition
215, which legalized marijuana for medical purposes.

Margolin said he sees no reason why marijuana should be illegal in
the first place.

"I don't care whether it's medical, philosophical or for a fun time
at a party, there should be a right to smoke," he said.

Students have mixed opinions on whether cannabis should be legalized
for any purposes.

Fay Li, a freshman majoring in broadcast journalism, said she has
never smoked marijuana and is against legalization.

"It's a drug with negative effects, and I don't think legalizing it
is a smart way for the government to get more money from people," she said.

Cyndi Thiel, an undeclared sophomore who has smoked marijuana, said
she is pro-legalization.

"There'd be a lot less drug trafficking and crime," Thiel said. "I
feel that from the research I've seen, smoking pot is safer than
alcohol abuse."

The student prescribed medical marijuana, who supports legalization,
said he would pay taxes on marijuana because it would lower prices.

"Dealers wouldn't charge as much for the risk they take," he said.

California As a Case Study

William Mallon, associate professor of clinical emergency medicine at
the Keck School of Medicine and director of international emergency
medicine at the Los Angeles County + USC Medical Center, doesn't
expect marijuana to become legalized anytime soon.

"Talk of legalization is a waste of time, because it's not
happening," he said. "This country is not in any way, shape or form
ready for it."

California is one of 12 states that permit medicinal uses of marijuana.

State-by-state, however, "California is more an example of failure
than success," Mallon said.

As soon as medical marijuana centers bring in successful revenue
streams, the Drug Enforcement Agency goes after them, he said. All
marijuana-related arrests in California have been based on federal
law, he said.

"As a physician, I'd like to not have people smoke anything," Mallon
said. "The argument [about tax revenues] may hold up, but the real
cost of legalization is hard to say based on health care risks that
are associated with any kind of smoking. As far as the argument that
tax revenues would offset the cost of marijuana, I would offer up
alcohol as an argument of how false that is."

Mallon cited the Netherlands as a place where marijuana is legal and
abused by foreigners.

"Holland has become a tourist destination for people who want to get
high," he said.

Edward Newton, chairman of USC's department of emergency medicine,
said he believes the country as a whole is not in favor of legalizing
marijuana.

"If the government legalizes it, it's kind of an implicit endorsement
of its use," he said. "You wouldn't want the pilot who is flying your
plane to be stoned."

But certain left-leaning states such as Oregon and Colorado could be
on their way to legalization, Newton said.

Margolin said he believes the government is wasting its time and
money by prosecuting those who have marijuana.

"Money should be better spent on education than incarceration for
people who have marijuana," he said.