DECRIMINALIZE MARIJUANA

With regulation, drug's harms would disappear-along with the cost of
enforcement

Last Saturday, Gov. Gary Johnson of New Mexico and Dr. Lester Grinspoon of
the Harvard Medical School rightly advocated the decriminalization of
marijuana. These men should be commended for having the courage to address
issues that most politicians and academics choose to avoid. As they pointed
out, the prohibition of marijuana causes more injustice and social problems
than the drug itself-similar to the alcohol prohibition in the 1920s-and
thus the ban on its use should end.

Last year, the government spent approximately $30 billion of state, local
and federal tax dollars and arrested more than 734,000 individuals to
support the futile and destructive prohibition of marijuana. But even with
all the government's money and arrests, last year 89 percent of high school
seniors said marijuana was "fairly or very easy" to get.

Not surprisingly, marijuana enjoys widespread use and is far from
dangerous. Eighty million Americans have tried marijuana, making it the
third most popular drug in the United States. The only two more popular
drugs, alcohol and tobacco, are both far more dangerous (and yet legal),
with alcohol poisoning causing approximately 50,000 deaths per year and
tobacco use causing over 400,000.

America should adopt a system resembling that of the Netherlands, which
allows adults to use marijuana responsibly and minimizes minors'
exposure-leading to lower use among adolescents than in the United States.
Marijuana is sold in government-regulated "coffee shops," which must follow
five basic regulations: no advertising, no sales of hard drugs, no
nuisance, no sales to people under 18 and no sales of more than five grams
per transaction. Individual municipalities can regulate closing times and
other rules for coffee shops. In general, individuals are allowed to
possess up to 30 grams (about one ounce) for personal use.

By regulating rather than prohibiting the marijuana market, America can
benefit greatly from tax revenue brought in by shops like these. The
marijuana trade, estimated by some to be the biggest cash crop in the
United States, would generate revenues in the billions with a moderate tax
of 50 cents per joint. Even with higher taxes, the legally distributed
marijuana would still undercut the illegal prices because black market
price inflation is so high. Thus decriminalization would eliminate the
black market for marijuana.

Marijuana has long been called a gateway drug, with opponents alleging that
its use leads to harder narcotics. But in 2001, a study published by a
federal agency, the National Institute of Justice, found that even though
marijuana use rose during the 1990s among 18- to 20-year- olds arrested,
young offenders did not seem to be using marijuana to get into harder
drugs. It went on to state that this trend would be "good news" if it meant
a "rejection of crack and heroin due to their potentially devastating
consequences."

Although people who have used cocaine are statistically more likely than
the general population to have tried marijuana, this proves only a
correlation, not causation. Certain personality types are more likely to
take risks-and thus more likely to break the law and use drugs. These
people will choose to use hard drugs whether or not marijuana is
decriminalized.

The only direct connection between marijuana use and hard drug use is that
many drug dealers who sell marijuana also sell hard drugs. This means
marijuana users can often get hard drugs with ease. If the government were
to separate the two markets by decriminalizing marijuana, as has been done
in Amsterdam, it would give marijuana users less access to-and temptation
to use-hard drugs.

Decriminalization would also allow ill patients to use marijuana for
medical reasons. Marijuana is currently used to relieve nausea caused by
cancer chemotherapy, increase appetite in AIDS patients, relieve
intraocular pressure in glaucoma patients and reduce muscle spasms in
multiple sclerosis sufferers. While 10 states have moved to legalize
medical marijuana, federal law keeps patients in fear of being arrested and
prevents many doctors from recommending marijuana to patients who could
benefit from it. Medical marijuana would be cheap, versatile and
beneficial. Decriminalization will clearly improve the lives of many ill
Americans.

Several government-appointed commissions, President Nixon's 1972 National
Commission on Marijuana and Drug Abuse being the most well known, have
recommended decriminalizing marijuana. President Carter's words in 1977 are
especially true today: "Penalties against drug use should not be more
damaging to an individual than the use of the drug itself. Nowhere is this
more clear than in the laws against the possession of marijuana in private
for personal use." Congress should immediately move towards decriminalization.

Dissent: Keep A Lid on the Pot

Not only is it very likely that marijuana harms its users; it is a gateway
drug that, in many cases, starts teenagers on a slippery slope towards
abusing even more dangerous narcotics. Though the war on drugs has its
problems, the billions of dollars spent fighting it have prevented
immeasurable tragedy.

The cost of enforcement may be high, but throwing up our hands in defeat
and decriminalizing marijuana is not the solution.

David M. DeBartolo, '03