Emerson Brooking | Taking a hit, so the economy avoids one

Last Thursday, President Obama hosted a small town hall in which he fielded a variety of questions submitted and voted on by an online audience. One of the most popular questions posed was whether decriminalizing marijuana might help the economy by creating a new source of tax revenue. Obama was quick to shrug off the question, joking, "I don't know what this says about the online audience."

It was a smart, snappy and perfectly political response. Although Americans have just finished elevating their third admitted marijuana user in a row to the Oval Office, cannabis decriminalization remains an intensely stigmatized issue. Champions of decriminalization are often cast as druggies, and few national politicians - particularly not the sitting President of the United States - are willing to get involved in such a contentious debate. Unfortunately for them, they may soon have to.

The past month and a half has seen the issue of decriminalization multiply rapidly in terms of size and prominence. It began (as just about everything does) in California, when state Assemblyman Tom Ammiano proposed legislation to legalize and tax marijuana. The bill places cannabis in the same legal category as alcohol, "[Removing] all penalties in California law on cultivation, transportation, sale, purchase, possession or use of marijuana . or paraphernalia for persons over the age of 21." Ammiano's proposal may be radical, but the time has never been riper for serious marijuana policy reform.

Like members of any self-respecting college community, Penn students are taking an active role in the decriminalization movement: Some recently founded a Penn chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML). According to co-founder and College sophomore Carol Gianessi, "A lot of people say, 'I don't smoke - how does this affect me?' But that's not the point of our organization. If you're an American citizen, these laws affect you, because it's your tax dollars at work arresting people and throwing them in jail."

The movement has gained momentum for the precise reason Gianessi mentions. Preserving marijuana's illegal status sinks billions of taxpayer dollars into arresting and imprisoning marijuana users for simple possession, and robs state and federal governments of potential sources of tax revenue. According to Harvard economist Jeffrey Miron, decriminalization would save roughly $44 billion on police and prison expenditures and create as much as $33 billion more in new revenue. Miron is quick to reference the end of Prohibition in 1933 during the height of the Great Depression. He suggests that, given the current economic gloom, federal and state governments will look to new taxable products as traditional sources of revenue dry up. Decriminalization will naturally follow.

America today is decades removed from the nation that inaugurated the War on Drugs and declared narcotics "Public Enemy Number One." In 1969, only 10 percent of Americans supported decriminalization of marijuana; that number now stands above 40 percent. Last November, Massachusetts was the first state to effectively decriminalize the plant by means of ballot initiative, garnering 65 percent of the popular vote. Even as Obama largely avoids the issue, his Justice Department recently announced an end to federal raids on medicinal-marijuana distributors. This shift has thrown pending marijuana possession and distribution cases into confusion as judges await further clarification - and possible revision - of federal policy.

In addition to attracting the squawking commentary of pundits, networks, and Web sites on every side of the issue, Ammiano has spawned a coterie of imitators. Philadelphia-based state Representative Mark Cohen recently announced his intent to introduce a bill decriminalizing possession and use of medicinal marijuana. If passed, Cohen estimates his legislation will generate at least $25 million in new tax revenue. It will also make Pennsylvania the 14th state to legalize medicinal marijuana, marking an important step toward decriminalization.

If all voters were college-aged, the issue of marijuana decriminalization would have been resolved long ago. Even as things stand, however, the times they are a'changing. Medicinal marijuana initiatives are receiving more and more popular support, and even outright decriminalization now lies clearly within the realm of possibility. National politicians may still be able to dodge the issue, but based on the growing strength and momentum of the decriminalization movement, they won't be enjoying that privilege much longer.

Emerson Brooking is a College sophomore from Turnerville, Ga. Southern Comfort appears on alternating Wednesdays. His email address is brooking@dailypennsylvanian.com.

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