Guest MINDSETTER™ David Ellison: It is Time We End the Prohibition of Marijuana

Friday, November 14, 2014

Guest MINDSETTER™ David Ellison

The time has come to end the prohibition on the sale and production of marijuana for adults in Rhode Island. This wasteful and ineffective policy of prohibition has been far more harmful to society than the consumption of marijuana itself. Rhode Island needs to allow the sale, taxation, and regulation of marijuana for adults just like it does with alcohol.

I work as a lawyer in the public defender’s office in Massachusetts. Even though marijuana is decriminalized up to an ounce in Massachusetts, as it is in Rhode Island, the criminal court’s resources are still burdened with marijuana cases. The criminal courts are very busy and for every minute spent on a marijuana case, one less is spent focusing on a serious crime. The same is true for law enforcement officers’ time. We are wasting criminal justice resources on marijuana and that jeopardizes public safety.

Other states like Colorado, Washington, Alaska, and Oregon have all ended marijuana prohibition. Colorado was the first state to roll out their effort to treat marijuana like alcohol. From January 2014 through August 2014, the state brought in more than $45 million in tax revenue from legal, regulated marijuana. This revenue is being used to fund the construction of schools and other important government services. Moreover, Colorado’s Marijuana Enforcement Division has issued more than 10,000 employee badges to individuals who work directly with marijuana. That figure does not include ancillary employment opportunities created by a regulated marijuana market, including jobs for accountants, attorneys, electricians, and security guards.

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Here, in Rhode Island, regulating marijuana would create tax revenue the state desperately needs. We could also create hundreds, if not thousands, of jobs that people are yearning for. Every candidate this past election spoke about creating jobs and expanding revenue for the state but few said how they would do it. Ending the prohibition on marijuana and treating it like alcohol is a solution that could help fix our crumbling economy.

Marijuana itself does little harm to society and those who use it. No one has ever died from a marijuana overdose. However, thousands of people overdose on alcohol every year. Marijuana is less toxic, less addictive, and less harmful to the body than alcohol. Marijuana does not contribute to violent and reckless behavior like alcohol does. It makes little sense to continue punishing adults who responsibly use marijuana when every scientific study has shown marijuana to be far less harmful than alcohol.

Polls show that a majority of Rhode Islanders support regulating and taxing marijuana like alcohol. For far too long, we have enacted policies that purport to be “tough on crime” but actually prove to be ineffective and wasteful. Instead, it is time that we enact smarter policies that make better use of our limited public resources. It is time to end marijuana prohibition in Rhode Island.

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