ENFORCING MARIJUANA LAWS WASTES TIME, MONEY

State lawmakers recently beat back a huge budget deficit with a new 75 cent
per-pack cigarette tax hike worth about $202 million a year. Thinking
ahead, here is how a new study can help state officials balance the budget
next time around.

Minnesotans spend about $91 million each year to enforce state and local
marijuana laws -- money, Jon B. Gettman, a senior fellow at George Mason
University's School of Public Policy, finds is mostly wasted.

Gettman's study, titled"Crimes of Indiscretion: Marijuana Arrests in the
United States," was prepared for the National Organization for the Reform
of Marijuana Laws.

"Marijuana arrests," says Gettman, "are instruments of a supply-reduction
policy. But, he adds, "The doubling of marijuana arrests in the 1990s has
produced the opposite of the intended effect in every major indicator. An
increase in arrests should produce a reduction in use and the availability
of marijuana. However, during the 1990s both use and availability of
marijuana increased."

Marijuana possession arrests in the U.S. totaled 260,000 in 1990. By 2003,
that figure topped 662,000.

But even failed public policies can cost a bundle.

Who pays? Minnesotans are, in effect, paying for Washington's marijuana
prohibition policies. "The use of criminal law to control the availability
and use of marijuana," says Gettman, "is a federal policy that is dependent
on local law enforcement for its implementation." And state and local costs
quickly add up.

Boston University economics professor Jeffrey A. Miron estimates that
nationally, state and local officials spend about $5 billion per year
enforcing marijuana laws. Minnesota's share of this multibillion dollar
hand-out to Uncle Sam looks like this: $37 million for police services; $48
million for judicial services; and $6 million for correctional services.

The thousands of people arrested on marijuana possession charges in
Minnesota each year -- especially teenagers -- pay extra. "Marijuana
arrests," Gettman stresses, "make criminals out of otherwise law-abiding
citizens. Indeed, the primary consequence of marijuana arrests is the
introduction of hundreds of thousands of young people into the criminal
justice system."

Once a teenager has a criminal record, a number of other penalties often
follow. In Minnesota, for example, employers can ask job applicants about
arrests, even arrests not leading to a conviction, and a criminal record
may bar a person from public housing.

Taking a close look at marijuana arrest patterns, Gettman notes that young
people are disproportionally targeted. "The brunt of marijuana law
enforcement," he says, "falls on both adolescents and the youngest adults
- -- on teenagers. Nationally, almost 17 percent of all persons arrested for
possession of marijuana were between 15 and 17 years old. Another 26
percent were ages 18-20.

And what do Minnesotans get for these financial and personal costs? In 2002
there were 5,884 marijuana possession arrests in Minnesota, but the number
of users keeps going up. While 5.3 percent of Minnesota's population was
estimated to be monthly users in 1999, in 2002 the estimate stood at 6.3
percent.

Nationally, monthly users went from 4.9 percent in 1999 to 6.2 percent in 2002.

The basic problem, says Gettman, is that the "Overall supply of marijuana
in the U.S. is far too diversified to be controlled by law enforcement."

If the marijuana policies are both costly and ineffective, what is the next
best strategy? Because marijuana is so widely used, Gettman recommends
treating marijuana like a pharmaceutical product, subject to Federal Drug
Administration testing and regulatory requirements.

By shifting to a policy that treats and taxes marijuana like tobacco and
alcohol, Minnesotans could see a decrease in illegal activities surrounding
drug sales, ensure government control of marijuana quality, get better
control of underage access to marijuana and remove the profit motive of
pushers, including a substantial number of teenage sellers who, most
frequently, supply other teenagers.

On top of that, Miron estimates a marijuana sales tax would replace the $91
million a year Minnesota taxpayers are spending to enforce unenforceable
laws, with a new revenue pipeline bringing in $14 million a year. And that
$105 million would go a long way toward fending off future budget deficits.