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 this week 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.