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"In terms of state legislatures, this is far and away the most active year
that we've ever seen," said Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the New
York-based Drug Policy Alliance, which supports reforming marijuana laws.
Nadelmann said that while legalization efforts are not likely to get much
traction in state capitals anytime soon, the fact that there is such an
increase of activity "is elevating the level of public discourse on this
issue and legitimizing it."
"I would say that we are close to the tipping point," he said. "At this
point they are still seen as symbolic bills to get the conversation going,
but at least the conversation can be a serious one."
Opponents of relaxing marijuana laws aren't happy with any conversation on
the topic, other than keeping the drug illegal.
"There's no upside to it in any manner other than for those people who want
to smoke pot," said Travis Kuykendall, head of the West Texas High Intensity
Drug-Trafficking Area office in El Paso, Texas. "There's nothing for society
in it, there's nothing good for the country in it, there's nothing for the
good of the economy in it."
Legalization bills were introduced in California and Massachusetts earlier
this year, and this month, New Hampshire and Washington state prefiled bills
in advance of their legislative sessions that begin in January. Marijuana is
illegal under federal law, but guidelines have been loosened on federal
prosecution of medical marijuana under the Obama administration.
Even so, marijuana reform legislation remains a tough sell in some places.
In the South, for example, only Mississippi and North Carolina have
decriminalization laws on the books.
"It's a social and cultural thing," said Bruce Mirken, spokesman for the
Marijuana Policy Project, a Washington, D.C.-based marijuana advocacy group.
"There are some parts of the country where social attitudes are just a
little more cautious and conservative."
Rep. Mary Lou Dickerson, a Seattle Democrat who is sponsoring the
legalization bill in Washington state, said that she "wanted to start a
strong conversation about the pros and cons of legalizing marijuana."
Under her bill, marijuana would be sold in Washington state's 160 state-run
liquor stores, and customers, 21 and older, would pay a tax of 15 percent
per gram. The measure would dedicate most of the money raised for substance
abuse prevention and treatment, which is facing potential cuts in the state
budget. Dickerson said the measure could eventually bring in as much to
state coffers as alcohol does, more than $300 million a year.
"Our state is facing a huge financial deficit and deficits are projected for
a few more years," Dickerson said, referring to the projected $2.6 billion
hole lawmakers will need to fill next year. "We need to look at revenue and
see what might be possible."
Allen St. Pierre, executive director of the National Organization for the
Reform of Marijuana Laws, said that tough economic times across the country
have lawmakers looking at everything, and may lead even more states to
eventually consider the potential tax value of pot.
"The bean counters are now reporting back to their elected officials how
much money is being left off the table," he said, adding that billions of
dollars worth of pot is going untaxed.
Ron Brooks, president of the National Narcotics Officers' Associations'
Coalition, said that he feared that, if legalized, marijuana would
contribute to more highway accidents and deaths, as well as a potential
increase in health care costs for those who smoke it.
State lawmakers, he said, need to ask themselves "if they believe we really
will make all that revenue, and even if we did, will it be worth the
suffering, the loss of opportunities, the chronic illness or death that
would occur?"
Legalization isn't the only measure lawmakers across the country are
weighing. About two dozen states, including Pennsylvania, New Jersey and
Wisconsin, are considering bills ranging from medical marijuana to
decriminalizing possession of small amounts of marijuana, St. Pierre said.
Washington state is among the states that are considering decriminalization,
with a bill that would reclassify adult possession of marijuana from a crime
with jail time to a civil infraction with a $100 penalty.
Fourteen states, including Washington state, already have medical marijuana
laws, and 13 have decriminalization laws on the books, St. Pierre said.
About two dozen cities across the country, including Seattle, make marijuana
offenses a low law-enforcement priority.
Marijuana advocates said that while increased activity in the statehouse is
heartening, change most likely will come at the ballot box through
voter-driven initiatives.
"Inevitably, the politicians are going to be behind the curve on this
stuff," Nadelmann said, noting that almost all of the medical marijuana laws
came about by initiative.
This month, a group campaigning to put a marijuana legalization measure
before California voters said it had enough signatures to qualify for the
2010 ballot.
That proposal would legalize possession of up to one ounce of marijuana for
adults 21 and older. Residents could cultivate marijuana gardens up to 25
square feet. City and county governments would determine whether to permit
and tax marijuana sales within their boundaries. And in Nevada earlier this
month, backers of a move to legalize marijuana there filed paperwork
creating an advocacy group aimed at qualifying an initiative for the 2012
election.
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