HOW ABOUT A MARIJUANA SALES TAX IN FLORIDA?

Floridians spend about $288 million each year to enforce state and
local marijuana laws. What are these taxpayers getting for their
money? Not much, according to a recent study.

Jon B. Gettman, a senior fellow at George Mason University's School of
Public Policy, prepared the study, "Crimes of Indiscretion: Marijuana
Arrests in the United States," 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.

Even failed public policies, however, can cost a bundle.

Who Pays

Floridians 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.

Florida's share of this multi-billion hand-out to Uncle Sam looks like
this: $103 million for police services; $152 million for judicial
services; and $33 million for correctional services.

Individual Costs

The thousands of persons arrested on marijuana
possession charges in Florida 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 Florida, 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 age 18-20.

Marijuana Use

And what do Floridians get for these financial and
personal costs? In 1995, the last year for which data is available,
there were 31,360 marijuana possession arrests in Florida. But the
number of users keeps going up. While 5 percent of Florida's
population was estimated to be monthly users in 1999, in 2002 the
estimate stood at 6.5 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 current 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, Floridians could gain the following benefits: a decrease
in illegal activities surrounding drug sales; government control of
marijuana quality; better control of underage access to marijuana; and
the removal of the profit motive that attracts sellers, 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 $288 million a year Florida taxpayers are now spending to enforce
unenforceable laws, with a new revenue pipeline bringing in $45
million a year.

Ronald Fraser, a freelance writer in the Washington area since 1984,
writes on public policy issues for the DKT Liberty Project, a
Washington-based civil liberties organization. In addition, he is a
contributing writer for Faircount LLC publications in Tampa -- on
defense, budgeting (currently working on a piece about the Homeland
Security Department budget) and program management issues. His Ph.D.
is from George Mason University in public policy studies.