By Geoffrey Wickes
Everyone likes driving fast, but nobody wants to crash their car. Similarly, some people might like the idea of legal marijuana, but nobody wants to deal with all the social problems that come with it. The laws designed to prevent these consequences vary wildly across the country, almost in a schizophrenic manner. While some states are putting marijuana users in prison for years, others are legalizing the drug. It’s time to put an end to this ideological extremism in drug policy when such a clear middle ground exists. Marijuana possession, just like speeding, should be dealt with through citations; not through incarceration and certainly not through legalization.
Many states have already adopted these types of reasonable laws. According to the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), 16 states have decriminalized (which is not the same as legalized) simple possession of personal-use quantities of cannabis. In these states, police are able fine persons caught with small amounts of pot. As long as offenders aren’t growing or selling it, officers can confiscate the drugs and send them home rather than to jail.
Traffic citations have long been viewed as an important source of revenue for local, county, and state governments. Marijuana citations should be no different. According to the FBI, over 650,000 people were arrested for possessing marijuana in 2012. If, instead of arresting them, each state chose to fine them, hundreds of millions of dollars in additional revenue could be generated for local, county, and state governments. Doing so would also save police officers time, free up jail beds for more serious offenders, and reduce the number of marijuana-related court battles, saving governments an untold amount of money. As balancing government budgets becomes an increasingly salient issue, it becomes harder to ignore this untapped revenue source, some of which could conceivably be used to fund drug education and treatment programs. In addition to this financial incentive for policy reform, decriminalizing marijuana possession would also decrease the massive human and economic costs of the lengthy prison sentences found in some states.
Many legalization proponents claim that legalizing and taxing the drug could serve as an equally-viable revenue source for the government. There are many problems with this idea. First is the fact that, according to CADCA, “[l]egalization of marijuana… often leads to decreases in perceived harm and social disapproval for marijuana, and increases in use.” This is a serious issue because of all the social problems correlated with cannabis use. For instance, a 2004 RAND Corporation study found “that marijuana users… are more likely to be arrested for property and income-producing crime” than non-users, even after controlling for many other demographic characteristics that correlate with property crime, such as poverty. Moreover, since Washington state voted to legalize cannabis in November, 2012, the state has seen a spike in driving under the influence of marijuana. These impaired drivers are crashing a lot, too. Recent statistics from Washington show that the number of post-crash toxicology reports in which drivers tested positive for THC—marijuana’s active ingredient—increased from 26 percent to 42 percent since legalization. This increase in the rate of DUIs is especially frightening when you consider that state-licensed dispensaries hadn’t even opened until last month. This means that even independent of increased legal access, legalization makes users less reticent toward engaging in the dangerous behaviors associated with marijuana use. This tendency for stoned drivers to crash is consistent with past research. A Dalhousie University study showed that “drivers who consume cannabis within three hours of driving are nearly twice as likely to cause an MVC (motor vehicle crash) as those who aren’t under the influence of drugs or alcohol.” These disturbing statistics might make some people want to quit using the drug. Unfortunately, many cannot. Despite the popular sentiment that it’s impossible to become addicted to marijuana, addiction experts have seen a marked increase in the number of teenagers reporting to marijuana addiction treatment in Colorado in the last year.
Another problem with the legalize-and-tax proposal is the precise, potentially catastrophic balancing of tax rates that would have to occur to generate revenue. Setting tax rates too low on proposed licit marijuana sales might fail to generate the same amount of revenue that simply citing users would, and fail to account for the many negative externalities associated with the drug’s use. This is already a major problem with alcohol and tobacco. In 2006, the government received $1 in tax revenue for every $10 in social costs associated with these legal drugs.
Making tax rates too high, on the other hand, would cause buyers to simply continue to use pre-existing black markets, considerably reducing the income-producing effect of the tax. We’ve already seen this trend in New York City, where high tax rates have caused an estimated 60 percent of cigarettes to be smuggled illegally into the city, including some by terrorist groups. The drug’s legal status would also drastically reduce law enforcement’s ability to crack down on these black markets as drug investigations typically begin by arresting or citing street-level users and dealers, who then identify higher-level dealers to police in exchange for clemency. If possessing “personal-use” quantities of marijuana was made legal, law enforcement’s capacity to gain suspect compliance in drug investigations would be greatly diminished; and that’s only if they can even figure out who the dealers are. Most street-level drug peddlers only possess small quantities of cannabis at any given time. Doing this makes it harder for law enforcement to identify dealers, who may appear to be carrying for personal use.
By decreasing risk of arrest to marijuana dealers, legalization policies would only serve to reduce the black market price of the drug. Increased demand for newly-legalized cannabis, decreased enforcement authority, and low street prices would allow the international drug cartels to flourish, increasing both border violence and the quantity of drugs imported annually.
Legalizing marijuana would cause countless social problems. On the other hand, the massive financial, economic, and human costs of incarcerating marijuana users demonstrate the urgent need for reform. State governments need to find a middle ground between simply throwing up their hands and letting drug use go unchecked and ruining users’ lives with prison sentences. Decriminalization will cut justice system costs, boost government revenue, decrease marijuana use, and improve lives. Don’t we have an obligation to consider it?
Geoffrey Wickes is a full-time Master of Public Policy Student at Georgetown University with a background in law enforcement, substance abuse prevention, and legal community outreach. Currently, Geoff works for the McCourt School’s Center for Juvenile Justice Reform.
Established in 1995, the Georgetown Public Policy Review is the McCourt School of Public Policy’s nonpartisan, graduate student-run publication. Our mission is to provide an outlet for innovative new thinkers and established policymakers to offer perspectives on the politics and policies that shape our nation and our world.
In the prohibitionist’s world, anybody who consumes the slightest amount of marijuana responsibly in the privacy of their own homes are stoners and dopers that need to be incarcerated to protect society.
In their world, any marijuana use equates to marijuana abuse, and it is their god given duty to worry about saving us all from the evils of marijuana use.
Who are they to tell us we can’t choose marijuana, the safer choice instead alcohol for relaxation, after a long, hard day, in the privacy of our own homes?
People who use marijuana are smart, honest, hard working, educated, and successful people too, who “follow the law” also.(except for their marijuana consumption under it’s current prohibition of course) .
Not the stereotypical live at home losers prohibitionists make us out to be. We are doctors, lawyers, professors, movie stars, and politicians too.
Several Presidents of The United States themselves and Justin Trudeau have confessed to their marijuana use , as have a long and extensive list of successful people throughout history at one point or other in their lives.
Although, that doesn’t mean a dam thing to people who will make comments like “dopers” and “stoners” about anybody who uses the slightest amount of Marijuana although it is way safer than alcohol.
To these people any use equals abuse, and that is really ignorant and full of hypocrisy. While our society promotes, glorifies, and advertises alcohol consumption like it’s an All American pastime.
There is nothing worse about relaxing with a little marijuana after a long hard day, than having a glass a wine.
So come off those high horses of yours. Who are you to dictate to the rest of society that we can’t enjoy Marijuana, the safer choice over alcohol, in the privacy of our own homes?
We’ve worked real hard our whole lives to provide for our loved ones. We don’t appreciate prohibitionists trying to impose their will and morals upon us all.
Has a marijuana user ever tried to force you to use it? Probably not. So nobody has the right to force us not to either.
Don’t try to impose your morality and “clean living” upon all of us with Draconian Marijuana Laws, and we won’t think your such prohibitionist hypocrites.
Legalize Nationwide! Support Each and Every Marijuana Legalization Initiative!
I can tel the author of this farce is a disciple of kevin sabets project SAM…….am posting a link that will debunk all this non sense……this is from a real doctor……http://www.alternet.org/drugs/5-biggest-lies-anti-pot-propagandist-kevin-sabet
i just noticed this interesting argument……… Dalhousie University study showed that “drivers who consume cannabis within three hours of driving are nearly twice as likely to cause an MVC (motor vehicle crash) as those who aren’t under the influence of drugs or alcohol.”
I always find it interesting that they love to use the Xs2 argument about your likely hood of a crash as a reason not to make it legal……..but what they always fail to also mention is .05 BAC also has an increase of Xs2 but is perfectly legal………
This was one of the worst articles I have ever read in my life.
Firstly the author is clearly a huge statist and so from the get go he starts under false assumptions.
Secondly, and more obvious to most people, the author’s arguments do not distinguish why alcohol should be legal and marijuana decriminalized. I imagine the author would ideally want stricter alcohol control.
The author is a bad person and should feel bad.
This is really, really stupid, especially the part that says “Setting tax rates too low on proposed licit marijuana sales might fail to generate the same amount of revenue that simply citing users would…” Really? You would prefer cop-written tickets, the most subjective and regressive form of “taxation” there is, to an across-the-board rate set by lawmakers as a source of state revenue? This is an ignorant, naive piece.
What happens when someone can’t pay the fine?
So the legalization of marijuana so it can be openly grown in the US will INCREASE border violence and the amount of drugs imported? Huh? In spite of its illegal status in most of the 50 states, US grown ganja is already some of the best and most plentiful in the world, while poorly grown and packaged Mexican swag, which accounts for most of the cannabis smuggled into the US, is the smoke of last resort for all but the poorest or least discriminating. For that matter, why would a legal drug need to be smuggled in the first place if Mexico were to also legalize it, an idea that is already being considered south the border? Mr. Wickes, I highly recommend you go back and re-take that freshman year Logic class that you so obviously slept through.
Why does most everyone automatically jump to the automatic, knee-jerk, and FALSE assumption that cannabis impairs drivers much the same as does alcohol? Why let uninformed opinions be the basis of new laws? It took me very little time to do a search, and find actual scientific studies which indicate just how incorrect such an assumption is. Examples follow.
Studies Show Marijuana Consumption Not Associated With Dangerous Driving, May Lead to Safer Drivers
Anyone who consumes cannabis on a regular basis knows that it doesn’t make you a dangerous driver. Many people find that it makes them a safer, more focused driver; one that’s more aware of their surroundings and the dangers associated with controlling tons of gasoline-filled metal. Not only has this been an anecdotal truth for as long as cars and cannabis have been paired, science has also been clear that consuming marijuana doesn’t make you a dangerous driver, and may make some people safer drivers. More research is needed, but it’s hard to deny that of the research we have, marijuana hasn’t been found to increase a person’s risk of an accident. To back this claim up, here’s a list of studies and research conducted on this very topic, some of which were funded by national governments in hopes of different results.
http://thejointblog.com/studies-shows-marijuana-consumption-not-associated-with-dangerous-driving-may-lead-to-safer-drivers/
Marijuana and Driving: A Review of the Scientific Evidence
“Marijuana has a measurable yet relatively mild effect on psychomotor skills, yet it does not appear to play a significant role in vehicle crashes, particularly when compared to alcohol. Below is a summary of some of the existing data.”
http://norml.org/library/item/marijuana-and-driving-a-review-of-the-scientific-evidence
The incidence and role of drugs in fatally injured drivers
“There was no indication that cannabis by itself was a cause of fatal crashes.”
REFERENCE: Washington, DC: US Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration,
Report No. DOT HS 808 065, K. Terhune. 1992.
http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/26000/26600/26685/DOT_HS_808_065.pdf
Marijuana and actual driving performance
“Drivers under the influence of marijuana retain insight in their performance and will compensate when they can, for example, by slowing down or increasing effort. As a consequence, THC’s adverse effects on driving performance appear relatively small.”
REFERENCE: U.S. Department of Transportation study, 1993
http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/Misc/driving/s1p2.htm
Marijuana’s effects on actual driving performance
“Evidence from the present and previous studies strongly suggests that alcohol encourages risky driving whereas THC encourages greater caution”
REFERENCE: University of Adelaide study, 1995
http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/Misc/driving/s1p2.htm
Role of cannabis in motor vehicle crashes
“There is no evidence that consumption of cannabis alone increases the risk of culpability for traffic crash fatalities or injuries for which hospitalization occurs, and may reduce those risks.. The more cautious behavior of subjects who have received marijuana decreases the impact of the drug on performance, whereas the opposite holds true for alcohol.”
REFERENCE: Marijuana: On-Road and Driving-Simulator Studies; Epidemiologic Reviews 21: 222-232, A. Smiley. 1999.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10682259
“Both simulation and road trials generally find that driving behaviour shortly after consumption of larger doses of cannabis results in (i) a more cautious driving style; (ii) increased variability in lane position (and headway); and (iii) longer decision times. Whereas these results indicate a ‘change’ from normal conditions, they do not necessarily reflect ‘impairment’ in terms of performance effectiveness since few studies report increased accident risk.”
REFERENCE: UK Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions (Road Safety Division). 2000.
http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/
/http:/www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/roadsafety/research/rsrr/theme3/cannabisanddrivingareviewoft4764?page=12
Cannabis And Cannabinoids – Pharmacology, Toxicology And Therapy
“At the present time, the evidence to suggest an involvement of cannabis in road crashes is scientifically unproven”.
REFERENCE: G. Chesher and M. Longo. 2002.
https://www.dmt-nexus.me/Files/Books/General/Cannabis%20And%20Cannabinoids%20-%20Pharmacology,Toxicology%20And%20Therapy.pdf
Cannabis: Our position for a Canadian Public Policy
“Cannabis alone, particularly in low doses, has little effect on the skills involved in automobile driving. Cannabis leads to a more cautious style of driving. However it has a negative impact on decision time and trajectory. This in itself does not mean that drivers under the influence of cannabis represent a traffic safety risk”
REFERENCE: Canadian Senate Special Committee on Illegal Drugs. 2002.
http://www.parl.gc.ca/content/sen/committee/371/ille/rep/summary-e.htm
“The evidence to suggest an involvement of cannabis in road crashes is scientifically unproven.”
REFERENCE: Cannabis and Cannabinoids: Pharmacology, Toxicology, and Therapeutic Potential, 2002
Cannabis and Cannabinoids: Pharmacology, Toxicology, and Therapeutic Potential, edited by Franjo Grotenhermen, MD and Ethan Russo, MD (Haworth Press 2002).
https://www.dmt-nexus.me/Files/Books/General/Cannabis%20And%20Cannabinoids%20-%20Pharmacology,Toxicology%20And%20Therapy.pdf
The Prevalence of Drug Use in Drivers, and Characteristics of the Drug-Positive Group
“There was a clear relationship between alcohol and culpability. In contrast, there was no significant increase in culpability for cannabinoids alone.”
REFERENCE: Accident Analysis and Prevention 32(5): 613-622. Longo, MC; Hunter, CE; Lokan, RJ; White, JM; and White, MA. (2000a).
http://www.grotenhermen.com/driving/longo1.pdf
The Effect Of Cannabis Compared With Alcohol On Driving
“Although cognitive studies suggest that cannabis use may lead to unsafe driving, experimental studies have suggested that it can have the opposite effect.” U.S. National Library of Medicine, 2009
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2722956/
Why Medical Marijuana Laws Reduce Traffic Deaths
“No differences were found during the baseline driving segment (and the) collision avoidance scenarios,”
REFERENCE: Research published in the Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, 2010
http://healthland.time.com/2011/12/02/why-medical-marijuana-laws-reduce-traffic-deaths/
Top 10 Reasons Marijuana Users Are Safer Drivers
“20 years of study has concluded that marijuana smokers may actually have fewer accidents than other drivers.”
http://www.4autoinsurancequote.com/uncategorized/reasons-why-marijuana-users-are-safe-drivers/
Risk of severe driver injury by driving with psychoactive substances
“The study found that those with a blood alcohol level of 0.12% were over 30 times more likely to get into a serious accident than someone who’s consumed any amount of cannabis. .. The least risky drug seemed to be cannabis and benzodiazepines and Z-drugs.”
REFERENCE: Accident Analysis & Prevention; Volume 59, October 2013, Pages 346–356
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0001457513002315
Cannabis: Summary Report
“Cannabis alone, particularly in low doses, has little effect on the skills involved in automobile driving.”
REFERENCE: Canadian Senate Special Committee on Illegal Drugs
https://www.dmt-nexus.me/Files/Books/General/Cannabis And Cannabinoids – Pharmacology,Toxicology And Therapy.pdf
Acute cannabis consumption and motor vehicle collision risk
“There is no evidence that consumption of cannabis alone increases the risk of culpability for traffic crash fatalities or injuries for which hospitalization occurs, and may reduce those risks.”
REFERENCE: British Medical Journal, 1999; M. Bates and T. Blakely