POT LAWS COSTING PLENTY

De pending on your view, it was a defiant act of mercy or a collective
nose-thumbing at the U.S. government.

What happened last Tuesday in Santa Cruz was this: People who support the
use of marijuana for medical purposes distributed it to a dozen patients,
including some who are terminally ill. Among those helping to distribute
the pot were the city's mayor, six of its seven council members, and a
county supervisor.

It was anti-government at its most melodramatic. Several hundred citizens
cheered the heroes, the pro-pot officials, and hissed the villains, mostly
the federal Drug Enforcement Administration. All this took place, mind you,
outside City Hall.

"Santa Cruz is a special place, and today we're letting the world know how
compassionate we can be,' said Mayor Christopher Krohn. "We're taking a stand.'

The stand was that of defying federal authorities and declaring the city to
be a "sanctuary' from them. The demonstration, triggered by a recent
federal raid on a local medical marijuana club, included a few people who,
although not ill, lit joints to express their disdain for the feds.

But event organizers, namely the Women's Alliance for Medical Marijuana,
discouraged such freelance smoking, insisting that the demonstration's
focus was on medicinal use of the plant.

At play here was a conflict of laws. Use of marijuana for medical purposes
is legal in California if prescribed by a physician. But its use for any
purpose is prohibited by U.S. law. And the U.S. needs to get over that.

Meanwhile ...

The Santa Cruz flap comes at a time when another battle is being waged to
decriminalize marijuana use. In Nevada, an initiative called Question 9
proposes that people be allowed to posses up to 3 ounces.

Question 9, which is on the November ballot, is not as revolutionary as it
appears at first glance. Were it enacted, pot smoking in public would still
be outlawed. So would driving under its influence and selling it to minors.

But what makes the initiative unique is the fact that it is supported by
the state's largest police organization, the Nevada Conference of Police
and Sheriffs. Last month, the group's board of directors voted 9-0 to back
Question 9. In so doing, NCOP president Any Anderson reflected the
frustration of many police officers.

"I was a Metro police officer for 28 years,' he told the Las Vegas Sun,
"and I spent a lot of time booking people on marijuana charges that never
went to court. It would take anywhere from a couple of hours for a single
arrest to about half my shift if there was a line at the booking window or
multiple arrests time that could have been better spent on the street
addressing violent crime.'

It is refreshing to see groups like NCOP take a second look at enforcement
of marijuana laws, an effort that is costing us a fortune.

In 2000, the United States saw a record 734,498 marijuana-related arrests.
If you suspect most of these were for sale or production, you are wrong.
About 85 percent of those arrested were charged with simple possession.
According to the Department of Justice's own statistics, about 60,000
people or 3.3 percent of our total incarcerated population are under lock
and key for marijuana violations.

That's costing us $3.2 billion a year.