Legalize It

Before I was hired by US Customs as a criminal investigator, I used to hate reading the annual National Review article supporting the legalization of marijuana. I love my NR subscription, and even though Rich Lowry had a cover story about “What Went Wrong?” in Iraq one week before the election, I’ll renew it. Their perennial argument is basically an appeal for the real medical uses that marijuana has to offer. I completely agree that the medical applications for marijuana are legitimate and that it offers real comfort to those who are in need. That’s not what I’m talking about.

I’m talking about completely legalizing it and selling it much in the same way as alcohol. I’m not going to trot out statistics about how alcohol is more harmful to the body than pot because you already know that. Besides, that’s not part of my argument either.

The enforcement of marijuana smuggling is a massive distraction to the interdiction of really dangerous narcotics like cocaine, methamphetamine, and heroin. Smugglers do not care if a 100 lb. weed load is intercepted at a US Port of Entry. They don’t care because it’s the cost of doing business when your actual goal is to cross 5 lbs of heroin or 20kg of coke. The smugglers send some broke migrant farm worker with a green card across in a stolen car with the promise of $500 dollars if the poor sap actually makes it. But when the dope is spread out all around the car, the dogs are sure to catch it, and even if the dogs are taking a nap, any inspector that’s half awake can see the guy’s hand shaking and the beads of sweat forming on his brow. Right after that guy is sent to Secondary Inspection and all of the attention focused on a load car with unknown contents, 10 carloads of real dope crosses. In my two years working dope cases on the Southwest border, I caught a handful of dope loads containing anything but marijuana. Confidential Informants tell us the tactics that the smugglers use, and it is information from them that accounts for 90% of non-marijuana seizures at the Port.

Smugglers can’t afford to throw away meth loads to cross heroin, but even if they could it would be better to get some meth off the street than another perfunctory weed load. The legalization of marijuana would drastically improve law enforcement’s ability to intercept the types of narcotics that are extremely hazardous and addictive. People don’t carjack, rob, or murder to get money to buy marijuana. People don’t go on 3 day marijuana binges and wake up to find that there infant child died at some point. Access to drugs like these, needs to be severely curtailed. The “gateway” threat of marijuana pales in comparison to the potential enforcement improvements gained by its legalization.

My recollection of teenage life is that while you had to convince some Mexican guy entering the liquor store to buy a six pack of beer for you (in Spanish), there were a half a dozen guys at school who had to go no further than their locker to get a bag of weed. Marijuana possession under an ounce is a misdemeanor ticket right now which is hardly a deterrent. Obviously, the natural accompaniment to such a policy change would be stiff federal penalties for illegal distribution particularly to minors. In my opinion, removing marijuana sales from the black market would drastically reduce its availability to minors.

I am not very confident that my policy formulations will be well received by the Congress or the President, but hey, there’s my two cents. What do you think?