week of 4/17/02
 
 
 

Tokin’ laws aren’t doing the job
By Marshall Frank
This is about the value of law. Almost half of my life has been devoted to the enforcement of laws. In those 30 years, most of my arrests were for the most serious of crimes.

Ironically, I was never in a position to jail anyone for those criminal statutes which are in perennial dispute, i.e. prostitution, gambling or drugs. I consider myself lucky. You see, murder, rape and robbery are indisputable crimes. But drug use, prostitution and gambling, outside of man’s subjective determination, does not constitute criminal behavior.

It is an abomination against humanity to incarcerate human beings for years upon years in tiny cages for behavior that can and should be treated in more constructive, and less costly ways.

We are a vengeful society who believe the only solution to undesirable behavior is to lock ‘em up and throw away the key. “That'll show ‘em. Yeah”

The equations are simple. After decades of deeming certain acts as illegal, we should ask the question: Have the laws prohibiting these behavioral problems produced the desired effect; that is, has it stopped or significantly reduced people from engaging in prostitution, drug use and gambling? You know the answer to that as well as I.

We never learn. Alcohol prohibition of the 1920s not only failed to stop people from drinking, it fostered the emergence of organized crime syndicates as we still know them today. Black markets can only exist at the behest of law makers. Cartel leaders and crime syndicates thrive on laws that keep drugs illegal.

Let’s narrow it down more specifically. I am not an advocate nor a user of marijuana. I abhor the effects. A member of my own family has had his life wrecked via the use of drugs, and yes, he did start with marijuana at the age of 11. It’s a long and sad story. Well-intended but ineffective laws that kept marijuana illegal did him more harm than good. It certainly prevented nothing.

Research also shows that marijuana damages short-term memory, impairs judgment, alters heart rates and has the potential to create anxiety, paranoia and lethargy. Nicotine is also harmful, as is alcohol.

All that being said, the groundswell is growing in America to decriminalize marijuana. I am among them. It should be regulated and taxed, similar to the laws pertaining to alcohol. Monies saved could be better used for more effective education and treatment programs.

Many readers are undoubtedly furrowing their brows thinking, “Oh no, here’s another speech by a pot lover.” Not so. Here are the reasons:

First is taxpayer waste. The direct costs involved in the federal enforcement of marijuana laws extend beyond $7.5 billion annually. That doesn’t mention the costs to state and local law enforcement. At a time when a real war is being waged around the globe to protect our nation, we are screaming around after pot-heads and pot sellers who, in reality, present little danger to anyone except themselves.

Secondly, otherwise productive lives are wasted by languishing in prisons. With less than five percent of the world's population, the United States houses 25 percent of the world’s prison inmates. Yet, our crime rate soars over other advanced nations. Upwards of 60 percent of inmates are in prison for drug related offenses, more than half of them, marijuana possession and/or smuggling. The annual cost for housing over two million inmates is 50 billion dollars per year. This does not include residual costs, such as lost wages, welfare to their families, broken homes, single-parent kids, plus the cost of courts, defense lawyers, probation and parole.

The true cost is more than $100 billion a year. Think of what could be accomplished with those funds.

Third, the law means nothing. Despite all the tax monies spent for interdiction, enforcement and incarceration, marijuana remains the third most popular recreational drug of choice behind alcohol and tobacco products. After 60 years of criminal prohibition, 10 million Americans are regular users of marijuana, while 70 million have inhaled pot sometime in their lives.

Fourth, the law fosters more criminals. Laws against marijuana fuel the black market and keep the criminals in business. That’s a fact. And with those laws come the inherent dangers to police officers in every jurisdiction in America. They clog the court system, cost billions and create cynicism among the general public. In short, they create more problems than they solve. With new laws that regulate and permit sale and limited possession, marijuana smugglers and dealers will be out of business.

Fifth, it sets a poor example to our youth. Opponents invariably argue that legalizing marijuana will send the wrong signals to kids. We would like to think so, but that doesn’t really happen. Kids in every high school in America know how easy it is to buy a joint or an ounce of grass. It’s at their beck and call so long as the cash is there. And the signal it sends is that the law is useless and was meant to be broken. Anyone who believes that the illegality of marijuana has been a deterrent to kids who want to smoke pot are living in dreamland.

If space were available, I could tell horror stories about young men and women who are needlessly spending many years behind bars, people who made mistakes, people who needed treatment for their own foibles, people who otherwise could bring joy to others in this world, people who are basically harmless to you or I but will not see the light of freedom for most of their lives, all because of socially inspired laws that do not need to exist.

I still return to the basic question: Have laws against the possession and sale of marijuana over the last 60 years produced the desired effect?

You tell me.

(Marshall Frank is a retired Miami-Dade law enforcement officer and a novelist who lives in Maggie Valley.)