Though it may seem the dust has barely settled from California’s failed effort in 2010 to legalize marijuana under Proposition 19, the winds of change may be blowing here again, this time from the north.
Washington state voters, along with those in Colorado, have voted to legalize marijuana for adult use and to regulate within state borders production, transportation and sales. We plan to capture much-needed revenue while moving from a law enforcement model to a public health approach, emphasizing treatment and education over handcuffs and jail.
To be sure, it will take years to drive organized crime out of the marijuana business in our state, but we are proud to have helped kick off debate about the failures of marijuana prohibition.
As the U.S. attorney in Seattle, I helped lead federal enforcement of marijuana laws. But like many in law enforcement, I saw firsthand the dangerous futility in asserting criminal laws in the face of enormous demand for marijuana and the resulting black-market profits for gangs and drug cartels. In spite of the sometimes heroic efforts of law enforcement, marijuana is readily available to our kids. Public safety remains threatened by gun violence and criminal turf wars over billions of dollars in illegal and untaxed marijuana sales. We incarcerate minorities at higher rates than whites, even though whites consume more marijuana.
Many now are asking the fundamental question: Do the criminal laws prohibiting marijuana use by adults have the support of, we, the people?
Washington’s ballot measure, endorsed by two former U.S. attorneys, a former FBI agent in charge of Washington state and leaders in public health, passed overwhelmingly.
We sounded law enforcement and public-safety themes while exposing the dominance of the gangs and drug cartels in the vast marijuana black market. With other sponsors and partners, we highlighted the proposed law’s tight regulation, restrictions on advertising, youth treatment and education, and the significant revenues from taxing marijuana sales. And we took the heat from medical marijuana activists who opposed the law because of our tough driving-under-the-influence standard for marijuana impairment.
Some see the new state law as an invitation to federal intervention against those who dare to question the federal policy of blanket criminalization. This need not be the case.
With 18 states and the District of Columbia allowing medical marijuana and many more considering similar state legislation, President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder face a choice: Will they allow states to help them drive the gangs and cartels out of the marijuana market, or oppose them and face a continuing rebellion as more and more states pass laws reminiscent of those presaging the repeal of alcohol prohibition?
Our new law allows a year to carefully plan implementation and regulations for this new approach to marijuana, which we expect will involve important dialogue between state and federal officials.
The new marijuana laws in Washington and Colorado may point the way to achieving real change in California, too – and across America. Bringing the production and sale of marijuana under tight regulatory control and capturing the tax revenues will directly challenge the deadly dominance of the drug cartels and gangs.