Cannabis Column - #45

Jon Gettman is a long time contributor to HIGH TIMES. A former National Director of NORML, Jon has a Ph.D. in public policy and regional economic development and consults with attorneys, advocates, and non-profits on cannabis related research and public policy issues. On October 8, 2002, along with a coalition of organizations, he filed a new petition to have cannabis rescheduled under federal law. This column will track that petition's progress. Reality Check (Pt 2): Decrim vs. Legalization

Decrim vs. Legalization is a false choice, and supporters of marijuana law reform, obviously, support both. Legalization is preferred, however, removing or reducing criminal penalties for marijuana possession is a constructive step in the right direction.

While over the last thirty years many states have decriminalized possession of small amounts of marijuana through specific laws or sentencing policies, the fact of the matter remains that marijuana arrests doubled during the 1990s, and they remain at their highest levels in American history in terms of absolute numbers and arrest rates.

I strongly support the HIGH TIMES 420 Campaign. It presents a reasonable strategy for building public support for legalization, and it is based on a sound editorial platform that while legalization is preferred, any measure that reduces arrests and penalties should be supported by advocates of reform. The 420 Campaign was one of the earliest supporters of Congressman Barney Frank’s proposal to decriminalize marijuana under federal law, and it regularly encourages readers to support a variety of reform efforts.

I also have been involved in efforts to have marijuana rescheduled under federal law, and have worked on this issue since 1995. In addition, I have compiled reference links for my Bulletin of Cannabis Reform that enable supporters of reform to identify their state and federal representatives and contact them to express support for any cannabis reform proposal of interest.

As many readers have pointed out in response to my last column, decriminalization of marijuana is a good step toward marijuana’s ultimate legalization. Congressman Frank’s bill is an excellent way to let Congress know that the public will support marijuana reform legislation, and in that respect support for it is a good way to reassure Congress there is support for more comprehensive measures to reform the nation’s marijuana laws.

I have also heard comments that the reform movement is a lot closer to achieving legalization than suggested by my last column. This may be the case, and if so, a positive development.

But none of this changes the reality of this moment in history. If you want marijuana legalized, you’ll have to ask for it. In fact, you’ll have to demand it, and back up that demand with political activity. If you want marijuana legalized, then it’s time to discuss this objective, and it’s time to make it an issue for public discussion and debate. If you want marijuana legalized, then it’s time to make proposals for why and how it should be done. If you want marijuana legalized, then it’s time to start working for it explicitly, directly, and actively.

Social change takes place because people make it happen. It’s not like surfing, where you wait for a wave and then ride it. Instead, waves of social change are created and they carry the rest of history along with them. It’s easy to think of ways in which legalization might occur, and it’s easy to argue why it should take place, just as it’s easy to offer explanations and theories why it hasn’t happened yet. It’s also easy to get discouraged, especially when you take the effort to write your representatives and they send you a form letter suggesting they aren’t at all persuaded to think of this as a legitimate and pressing issue that requires more of their attention, and requires them to reconsider their past positions. But the legalization of marijuana is the best policy, and getting the country to realize it is a difficult endeavor, as are all important campaigns for social change.

Some readers have suggested that I don’t appreciate the hard work people have devoted to achieving the benefits of decriminalization that now exist. Nothing could be farther from the truth. In fact, the best way to appreciate the hard work of the last thirty to forty years is to build on it and make it the foundation of renewed efforts to achieve better and more just marijuana laws in this country.

HIGH TIMES has listed the top ten reasons why marijuana should be legalized. They’re good reasons and they make a compelling case why legalization should be the objective of marijuana reform efforts. Of course decriminalization is better than sending people to jail for marijuana possession. However even under decriminalization people still go to jail for marijuana possession.

Furthermore, marijuana costs too much! It costs too much for individuals to buy small amounts, and it costs too much to buy larger amounts even when the price is reduced for purchase of a larger quantity. People who try to save money by buying larger amounts risk going to jail for longer periods of time, because possession of large amounts of marijuana, even for personal use, is usually not subject to decrim policies.

So here are the problems with decrim: it doesn’t cover everybody, people still go to jail, arrests have skyrocketed over the last 15 years, and marijuana has become very, very expensive. The dirty little secret of marijuana law reform is that in many respects decrim has greater benefits for government and law enforcement than it does for the majority of marijuana users. Decrim makes the overall prohibition of marijuana affordable for state and local governments. It may be a good deal in the short run to advocate laws that reduce the arrests and penalties for possession of small amounts of marijuana, but in the long run this just subsidizes high prices and perpetuates severe prison sentences.

Legalization of marijuana is the best policy. It may take a long time to achieve it, but if that’s the case, that’s all the more reason to start focusing attention on it now