Proposition 19

In this week’s elections, California residents had the opportunity to make marijuana legal for recreational use, but they turned it down. Proposition 19, if passed, would have made California the first state in the country to allow residents to grow small pot gardens, and possess up to an ounce of the substance.

Marijuana Revenue

Had the proposition passed, supporters estimated that tens of millions of dollars would have been saved at the local and state levels of government due to decreases in costs to incarcerate and supervise pot offenders. Taxes on recreational marijuana businesses would have increased revenue for the state also. But the voters have spoken, and even though marijuana was not legalized, they did vote to tax medical marijuana more heavily. Voters in cities throughout the state approved to impose greater taxes on medical marijuana dispensaries and on marijuana cultivators.

The marijuana issue shouldn’t be just about money. Drug Czar Gil Kerlikowske was happy with the outcome in California and issued this statement: “Californians recognized that legalizing marijuana will not make our citizens healthier, solve California’s budget crisis, or reduce drug related violence in Mexico.”

To Legalize or Not

But are we really looking at the bigger picture here? Wouldn’t legalizing marijuana and other drugs actually turn the illegal drug trade on its head? If drug lords lost their clients to legal, reputable dealers, wouldn’t it put the whole illegal trade out of business?

It is impossible to predict what would happen if marijuana or other drugs were suddenly made legal. While other countries may not have a problem with certain drugs being legal, in our country their has been such control over illicit drugs that to suddenly make them legal might have far-reaching effects. People, especially young people, would be confused, many non-users would try certain drugs just to try them, and the dangers of drugs would seem diminished because we tend to view anything legal as being ok.

But then, if we look at an even bigger picture, we also see many new types of synthetic drugs making their way onto the scene. Some of these substances are pretty strong, very dangerous, and completely legal at this point. In fact, in a few years, there may be even more of these substances that can be made in the home, are undetectable on tests, and ruin lives more quickly and drastically than pot. How do we balance this out – we are putting so much time and effort into banning pot, which is deemed ok for medical purposes, yet we can’t possibly regulate all the new drugs coming up. As a country we are going to have to learn where to draw that line on our regulations.

Part of the answer is that we need to educate people about the dangers of any kind of drug use. Legal or not, drugs ruin lives, and we need to help people prevent drug addiction in their lives.