WE MUST LEARN LESSON FROM PROHIBITION

George Washington said: "Make the most of the Indian hemp seed and
sow it everywhere." The current prohibition on marijuana consumption
exactly parallels the 1920s alcohol prohibition.

Every year, a widely consumed illegal substance makes potential
criminals of millions and actual criminals of hundreds of thousands.
And like booze during Prohibition, this substance, marijuana, is the
easy revenue of organized crime, contributing tens of billions of
dollars to growers, who commit a variety of bad acts both at home and abroad.

How much money is made from this single substance? Nobody knows for
sure. "Illegal" means hard data are difficult to come by. We do know,
however, that according to recent figures, U.S. consumers number
anywhere from 25 million to 60 million (depending on how likely
survey respondents are to tell the whole truth), and at an average
cost of $5 per cigarette (and factoring in one per day for each
user), total spending on marijuana may add up to $45 billion to $110
billion a year.

What about possible tax revenue? From Canada we've learned that the
production cost of (government-sponsored) marijuana is roughly 33
cents a gram. Currently, U.S. marijuana consumers pay at least $10
per gram for illegal marijuana. If the cost of retailing and
distribution is the same as for legal tobacco cigarettes, about 10
cents a gram, then selling the (legal) product at exactly the same
price as on the street today ($10 per gram) could raise $40 billion
to $100 billion in new revenue. Not chump change. Government would
simply be transferring revenue from organized crime to the public purse.

The existence of the California referendum shows support is growing
to decriminalize marijuana. Even though the referendum failed this
year, it serves as a signal that the United States is looking toward
a future that doesn't repeat the mistakes of the past.

Darral Good

Shoreline