editorial comment Economics! Don't they care about the children?

BY RONALD FRASER

Illinoisans spend about $207 million each year to enforce state and local marijuana laws. What are these taxpayers getting for their money? Not much, according to a recent study.

Jon B. Gettman, a senior fellow at George Mason University's School of Public Policy, prepared the study, ''Crimes of Indiscretion: Marijuana Arrests in the United States,'' for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.

''Marijuana arrests,'' says Gettman, ''are instruments of a supply-reduction policy.'' But, he adds, ''The doubling of marijuana arrests in the 1990s has produced the opposite of the intended effect in every major indicator. An increase in arrests should produce a reduction in use and the availability of marijuana. However, during the 1990s both use and availability of marijuana increased.''

Marijuana possession arrests in the United States totaled 260,000 in 1990. By 2003 that figure topped 662,000.

Even failed public policies, however, can cost a bundle.

Illinoisans are, in effect, paying for Washington's marijuana prohibition policies. ''The use of criminal law to control the availability and use of marijuana,'' says Gettman, ''is a federal policy that is dependent on local law enforcement for its implementation.'' And state and local costs quickly add up.

Boston University economics Professor Jeffrey A. Miron estimates that nationally, state and local officials spend about $5 billion per year enforcing marijuana laws. Illinois' share of this multibillion handout to Uncle Sam looks like this: $84 million for police services; $105 for judicial services, and $18 million for correctional services.

The thousands of people arrested on marijuana possession charges in Illinois each year -- especially teenagers -- pay extra. ''Marijuana arrests make criminals out of otherwise law-abiding citizens,'' Gettman says. ''Indeed, the primary consequence of marijuana arrests is the introduction of hundreds of thousands of young people into the criminal justice system.''

Once a teenager has a criminal record, other penalties often follow. In Illinois, for example, employers can ask job applicants about arrests leading to a conviction, and a criminal record may bar a person from public housing.

Taking a close look at marijuana patterns, Gettman notes that young people are disproportionately targeted. Nationally, almost 17 percent of all persons arrested for possession of marijuana were between 15 and 17 years old. Another 26 percent were ages 18 to 20.

And what do Illinoisans get for these financial and personal costs? Even though state data is not available, it is safe to say that thousands of marijuana possession arrests were made in Illinois each year. But the number of users keeps going up. While 4.8 percent of Illinois' population was estimated to be monthly users in 1999, in 2002 the estimate stood at 5.5 percent.

Nationally, monthly users went from 4.9 percent in 1999 to 6.2 percent in 2002.

The basic problem, says Gettman, is that, ''The overall supply of marijuana in the United States is far too diversified to be controlled by law enforcement.''

If the current marijuana policies are both costly and ineffective, what is the next best strategy? Because marijuana is so widely used, Gettman recommends treating marijuana like a pharmaceutical product subject to Federal Drug Administration testing and regulatory requirements.

By shifting to a policy that treats and taxes marijuana like tobacco and alcohol, Illinoisans could gain the following benefits: a decrease in illegal activities surrounding drug sales; government control of marijuana quality; better control of underage access to marijuana, and the removal of the profit motive that attracts sellers, including a substantial number of teenage sellers who, most frequently, supply other teenagers.

On top of that, Miron estimates a marijuana sales tax would replace the $207 million a year Illinois taxpayers are now spending to enforce unenforceable laws, with a new revenue pipeline bringing in $35 million a year.


Ronald Fraser writes on public policy issues for the DKT Liberty Project, a Washington-based civil liberties organization.

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