Monday, January 30, 2012

Symposium on Marijuana "reform" at Wayne State University

This past Friday, January 27, 2012, I attended the National and State Marijuana Reform Symposium hosted by Wayne State University's (Detroit) School of Law. Predictably, and not surprisingly, in my estimation all of the presenters (with one exception) and most of the attendees (200 plus) were in favor of the decriminalization and legalization of marijuana. Without going into detail, a couple of the speakers mocked former first lady Nancy Reagan's "Just say no" advice to those who try to avoid using drugs. A number of the speakers blamed "cops, prosecutors, and judges" for our country's drug problem. One speaker, a pharmacy professor AND lawyer, actually told the audience to "Just say Yes to drugs." Nonetheless, there was one speaker who had a contrary (refreshing?) point of view. That speaker was Kevin Sabet, Ph.D. Kevin Sabet is a drug policy consultant. He served as a senior adviser to the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy from 2009 to 2011. He currently is a professor at the University of Florida's School of Medicine. I had the good fortune to introduce myself and to chat with Dr. Sabet. He was aware and supportive of the DRE approach to drugged-driving.

Here are a few of the points that Dr. Sabet made during his presentation. As an aside, many of Dr. Sabet's comments were met with derisive catcalls and comments from the other speakers and the audience. I clapped!

No modern nation has legalized marijuana. Pointed out that legalization is an extreme solution to the drug problem. Contrary to popular belief, Dr. Sabet said that it's very rare for people to be imprisoned for simple marijuana possession.

Dr. Sabet said that Alcohol and tobacco are in fact frightening examples of what can happen with legalization.

Legalization will increase use of marijuana. For many, the fact that marijuana is illegal helps to discourage (and prevent in some cases) use.

Legalization wouldn't eliminate the black market. Raising taxes will increase the likelihood of a black market.

Increased revenue from taxing marijuana wouldn't be offset by the increase in social and economic costs. In fact, Dr. Sabet pointed out that so-called "Vice taxes" rarely offset cost. Again, Dr. Sabet used the costs associated with legalized alcohol as a "frightening" example.

Dr. Sabet said that there are many ways to reduce incarceration rates (and associated costs) without legalizing drugs. He used the example of drug (and sobriety) courts, and other programs that focus on both compassion AND accountability as alternatives to legalization.

Finally, Dr. Sabet said that that although marijuana isn't as dangerous as smoking cocaine or heroin, it still is a harmful substance. (In my opinion, the costs to our society are greater with marijuana, simply because of its prevalence.)