MARIJUANA LAWS COSTLY FOR R.I.

Rhode Islanders spend about $20 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, titled, "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 United States totaled 260,000 in 1990.
By 2003, that figure topped 662,000.

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

Who pays? Rhode Islanders 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
of local law enforcement for its implementation." And, state and local
costs quickly add up.

Boston University economics professor Jeffrey A. Miron estimates that
nationwide, state and local officials spend about $5 billion per year
enforcing marijuana laws. Rhode Island's share of this multibillion-dollar
handout to Uncle Sam looks like this: $8 million for police services, $11
million for judicial services and $1 million for correctional services.

The thousands of people arrested on marijuana possession charges in Rhode
Island 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 Rhode Island, for example, employers can ask job applicants
about arrests 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 disproportionately targeted. "The brunt of marijuana law
enforcement," he says, "falls on both adolescent 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 to 20.

And what do Rhode Islanders get for these financial and personal costs? In
2002, there were 2,109 marijuana possession arrests in Rhode Island
compared to the 2,016 arrests in 1995. But, the number of users keeps going
up. While 7.4 percent of Rhode Island's population was estimated to be
monthly users in 1999, in 2002 the estimate stood at 9.4 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 United States 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 subjected to
Federal Drug Administration testing and regulatory requirements.

By shifting to a policy that treats and taxes marijuana like tobacco and
alcohol, Rhode Islanders 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
teens, who, most frequently, supply other teens.

On top of that, Miron estimates a marijuana sales tax would replace the $20
million a year that Rhode Island taxpayers are now spending to enforce
unenforceable laws, with a new revenue pipeline bringing in $3 million a year.

* Ronald Fraser writes on public policy issues for the DKT Liberty Project,
a Washington-based civil liberties organization.