Part of the reason that some states haven’t made much progress reforming their marijuana laws is because the people most engaged in this issue tend to be extremely at odds.
On one end there are the advocates demanding that pot be legalized, right now, and on the other there are calls for tougher drug laws, even if that means putting more users behind bars.
For Hawaii lawmakers considering this issue from a public-policy perspective, however, it is important to find the sensible middle ground, one that considers myriad legal, social, economic, educational and public-health impacts as Americans shift from the "war on drugs" mindset and toward more common-sense regulations, especially regarding marijuana.
The issue is on a legislative back burner in this, an election year, which means we’ll benefit from the experiences of states blazing the trail on outright legalization, such as Washington and Colorado.
There’s also much to learn from California’s back-door approach, where the proliferation of dispensaries supplying a disproportionate number of 20-somethings offers a cautionary tale about medical-marijuana oversight.
Hawaii’s House Judiciary Committee is considering two resolutions that would create a task force to develop recommendations for establishing a regulated, statewide medical-marijuana dispensary system, a network that is sorely needed for residents cleared to use the drug under existing state law.
It would be even better if the task force’s mission would broaden to address the implications of larger policy changes on this issue. Public input is essential on the topic of marijuana in Hawaii, and gathering that insight before next year’s legislative session — when more action is expected — is vital.
On the medical front, reclassifying the drug at the federal level would spur much-needed scientific research into promising cannabis-based treatments, including for epilepsy and other diseases.
Proven treatments should have the same chance for approval under the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as prescription drugs.
In terms of recreational use, perhaps the worst outcome would be for marijuana to go the way of Big Tobacco, a deadly industry with a long, well-documented history of targeting young people as new customers and relying on addicts as loyal ones. Assessing how the market develops in Colorado will be instructive.
Fewer people are criminally prosecuted now simply for marijuana use, and that is how it should be. An arrest record can cause a lifelong stigma that impedes education, employment and future achievement, and a jail sentence even more so.
Crimes in which marijuana use is a factor — impaired driving, say — require their own policy considerations.
Although legalization advocates emphasize that use would be limited to adults — similar to cigarettes and alcohol — the impact on younger people must be taken into account.
Habitual marijuana use poses grave risks, especially to developing brains. Some strains are far more potent than what was available a few decades ago. This is not your father’s marijuana, as they say.
Pot can’t simply be equated to drinking alcohol, either. Getting high more aptly compares to getting drunk; neither are habits to promote, from a public-health standpoint.
It follows that if pot becomes legal, more people will smoke it. Lawmakers must anticipate the potential consequences of this predictable outcome, and address the questions coming from all sides.
» Would we need more community-based substance-abuse programs?
» What are the projected net economic effects, assuming the product is heavily taxed?
» Why even change the status quo?
These are all fair questions, and there are many more. Hawaii lawmakers should strive to deal with these policy questions in all their complexity. Now, while there’s no polarizing legislation on the table, would be a good time to start a community conversation.
