TIME FOR SERIOUS TALK ABOUT POT

A recent report that Boston leads the nation in marijuana use seemed
to be greeted more with laughter than concern. "Hub goes to pot," the
Boston Herald's front-page headline screamed, "We are the highest
city in the U.S!" Other media outlets reacted with a similar mix of
bemusement and civic pride at the news from a federal agency that 12
percent of Massachusetts adults had smoked marijuana within the last month.

The reaction is perhaps unsurprising, given the numbers. If that
many residents are regular users of an illegal drug, it's hard to
paint it as a serious threat. The problem is that the law takes it
seriously indeed. According to the Criminal Justice Policy
Coalition, more than 2,100 people are arrested each year
in Massachusetts for marijuana possession, costing taxpayers some
$24 million. The idea that people don't go to jail for marijuana is
a myth: Across the country there are thousands of people serving time
for getting caught doing what 12 percent of metro Boston residents
did in the last month. As a general rule, when a law is that commonly
violated, there's a problem with the law. State legislators,
typically too afraid of being called "soft on drugs" to even
entertain reform of marijuana laws, should take a lesson from the
rate of marijuana use and the less-than-alarmed response to it.
Arresting, trying and locking up people for possession of a drug
used safely by millions of people is no laughing matter.

There is serious discussion to be had about the topic treated so
lightly when the federal report came out. The debate over medical
marijuana rages. Emboldened by a recent Supreme Court ruling,
federal agents raided three California cannabis clubs that for years
have been giving seriously ill people the medication they need.

The abuse of marijuana by teenagers is also serious business. There
is ample evidence that pot isn't good for brains that are still
developing. Local middle- and high-school students report that it's
easier for them to get hold of marijuana than alcohol, which should
provoke a discussion over which is more effective at protecting
children, prohibition or regulation. Marijuana is no joke, and
serious leaders shouldn't treat it like one. The Legislature's Joint
Committee on Mental Health and Substance Abuse will hold a hearing
Monday on legislation making adult possession of marijuana a civil
violation instead of a criminal act.

That's a good place to start a serious discussion.