My colleague here at the Hoover Institution, the late Milton Friedman, once asked me how, in a democracy, a senseless policy of using criminal law in an attempt to suppress the use of marijuana, a comparatively harmless drug, could continue for so long. Milton, an economic Nobel Laureate, once wrote that he had never tried the drug, and doubted that he would, but reserved the right to do so. He was adamantly opposed to criminal prohibition, emphasizing that prohibition created a criminal black market which vastly increased the profits of cartels and drug gangs. In his writings and speeches, he continuously noted that demand for illegal marijuana in the United States inevitably is met by criminals and gangs which resort to corruption and violence because the artificially inflated black market operates outside the law. Milton knew that the law of supply and demand trumped hypocritical laws passed by politicians. My experience during thirty-five years in policing, as well as my own doctoral research at Harvard, confirmed everything that Milton Friedman said about drugs.
Although Proposition 19 was narrowly defeated, three and a half million voters (47%) voted in favor of Legalizing, Taxing and Controlling Marijuana in last November’s California election, bearing out Milton’s belief that eventually, in a democracy, public common-sense will prevail over establishment propaganda.
Despite a fairly low turnout, the vote indicates that California voters are increasingly agreeing that the marijuana black market has caused more harm than the drug ever could. If as many young people voted as in the previous election, it is almost certain that Proposition 19 would have won. The rationality of so many voters indicates that they know that the criminal approach is failing –anyone in California who wants marijuana can get all the marijuana they desire.
People are not terrified of pot smoking in their neighborhoods. Understandably, they do fear murders, shootings, rapes, burglaries and other crimes dangerous to them and their families. The public wants the police to focus on those crimes, not on pursuing an impossible goal of preventing from four to twelve million Californians from smoking marijuana in private.
Everyone knows that pot smokers don’t go out and rob gas stations and banks, or shoot up neighborhoods. Marijuana consumers are overwhelmingly law-abiding, successful individuals who get mellow, not violent. It imposes great fiscal and social costs to turn millions of them into law-breakers solely on the basis of marijuana use.
It is noteworthy that The California NAACP, The League of United Latin American Citizens of California, The National Black Police Association, and The National Latino Police Officers Association all endorsed Proposition 19 because they are aware that its enforcement unfairly discriminates against minorities and that the consequent community hostility toward the police impedes efforts to prevent other crime. Attempting to control consensual behavior such as smoking marijuana leads to aggressive police conduct which creates hostility toward police to the extent that many people distrust cops and do not report crime, serve as witnesses, or when on juries believe police testimony. People overwhelmingly desire that the police focus on their fundamental duty, the protection of life and property. Clearly, marijuana enforcement rather than marijuana smoking is what creates a highly lucrative black market which creates the very violence and social disintegration which the police should be combating.
Legalizing, Controlling and Taxing marijuana will lead to better policing. Opponents of Proposition 19 have nothing to offer other than continuing a drug war by doing more of what has not worked in the past and imposes vast fiscal and human costs on society.
Voters in California are unlikely to be fooled forever by the same old tired scare tactics of newspaper editorial boards, organizations with vested economic interests, and career politicians, who know the war against marijuana has failed but continue to propose the same expensive, destructive efforts that have no chance of success. It is an enormous irony to see criminal drug cartels united with law enforcement organizations and our leading politicians in their determination to keep marijuana illegal and the black market thriving.
Nevertheless, a last minute surge of “October Surprises” by opponents of Prop. 19 - false charges leveled just two weeks before the election - reflects a desperate attempt to confuse and intimidate California voters at the last hour. It is especially demeaning to have Attorney General Holder travel to California a week before the election and threaten to “vigorously” prosecute Californians if Proposition 19 passed, even though violators would be in compliance with a new
California law enacted by a majority of voters in California. So much for the idea of the various states being the great engine of innovative government. Neither the Bush nor Obama administration was foolhardy enough to adopt this approach after Californians ignored the same dire warnings by the same establishment groups, and passed a Compassionate Medical Marijuana law in 1997, followed by fourteen other states adopting similar laws.
Milton Friedman was a strong supporter of Abraham Lincoln’s idea that “We are a government of the people, for the people and by the people.” Washington would do well to recognize that we are not a government of Washington, D.C. stifling the vote of Californians and various other states. If a majority of voters in California think it’s silly to continue a losing crusade against marijuana, the federal government should not attempt to silence the voice of the people by threats. I’d love to see the voters win one for Milton Friedman on the next election in 2012.
