MARIJUANA POLICY ISN'T WORKING

While marijuana may be getting the short shrift in the media due to
the heightened concern around methamphetamines, marijuana arrests --
numbering 755,000 in 2003 -- still represent the largest part of our
criminal justice response to drug use. Harvard economist Jeffrey A.
Miron has estimated law enforcement, judicial and corrections costs
associated with marijuana at $5.1-billion.

Despite billions in new spending and hundreds of thousands of new
arrests, marijuana use across the country seems to be unaffected by
the huge criminal justice response to this drug. At a time when
communities need more funds for meth treatment -- and the federal
government is only able to pledge $16-million in new funding -- we
need to review if our marijuana enforcement dollars are really making
a difference.

From 1991 to 2003, as marijuana arrest rates nationwide increased by
127 percent, use rates for all Americans remained relatively level,
climbing 22 percent in the last few years. The dragnet isn't doing
much to curb youth drug use, either. While there was some decline in
the last three years, the massive rise in marijuana arrests
corresponded with a 13-year trend toward increased youth marijuana
use. The percentage of 12th graders who said it was "fairly easy, or
very easy" to get marijuana barely changed over the 1990s, and remains
above 85 percent. It is not surprising that the National Research
Council, a congressionally chartered institution, reports that there
is "little apparent relationship between severity of sanctions
prescribed for drug use and prevalence or frequency of use."

While the growth in arrests has had little effect in deterring people
from using this drug, the impact of marijuana convictions and
imprisonment is devastating on the lives of many individuals.
Nationally, there are 41,000 people convicted of marijuana felony
offenses, and these individuals will face various barriers to re-entry
ranging from the denial of public housing to the inability to drive.

In most states, employers can ask about arrests that never led to a
conviction and refuse to hire an individual based upon their criminal
record -- even if that person is exceptionally qualified for the job.
So, even if people charged with marijuana offenses are not sent to
prison, these "collateral consequences" of a felony conviction can
hamstring their ability to work, take care of their families and
contribute to their community (including, their community's tax-base).
The combined effect can cause enough chaos in a person's life to take
them out of the community entirely, increasing their likelihood of
recidivism.

As the National Research Council said, "It is unconscionable for this
country to continue to carry out a public policy of this magnitude and
cost without any way of knowing whether it is having the desired effect"

Instead of repeating our past mistakes, this country should follow the
recent lead of Canada and the United Kingdom, and do what we once did
under President Nixon. We should be convening a body of experts,
including researchers, law enforcement, local government, community
organizations and others to review the efficacy and impact of all our
current drug policies, and recommend other policy choices that might
spend our scarce criminal justice and treatment dollars more
effectively.
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Jason Ziedenberg is the executive director of the Justice Policy
Institute. His e-mail address is jziedenberg@justicepolicy.org.