I'm the former chief prosecutor for the state of Alaska, and I'm voting yes on Ballot Measure 2.

Most of my career was spent in law enforcement. I was an assistant district attorney, a district attorney, an assistant attorney general in Alaska's Criminal Division, and Alaska's chief prosecutor/deputy attorney general under two governors. As chief prosecutor, I supervised all of Alaska's district attorney offices. I also worked as special counsel to the Legislative Committee on Local Option Laws, holding hearings to document Alaska's problems with alcohol abuse and writing Alaska's first local option law. Later, I worked as legal advisor to the Anchorage Youth Court.

My background and experience give me in-depth knowledge of how Alaska's criminal justice system works. I've been on the front lines: in the courtrooms, screening cases, working with law enforcement officers, setting criminal justice policy, and writing criminal laws. I have firsthand knowledge of when criminal punishment is effective and when it is not.

I learned through experience that criminal laws aren't the answer to every social problem and should only apply to conduct that actually requires jail time. Sometimes a public health response is more effective (cigarettes). Sometimes monetary fines and penalties are sufficient (traffic and Fish and Game offenses). In other cases, jail is the only solution, either as a deterrent (first time DWI) or to protect the community (violent crime).

When considering how to deal with marijuana, the issue isn't whether marijuana is good or bad, or better or worse than alcohol. Most Alaskans, on both sides of the current debate, agree marijuana needs to be controlled and regulated. The important issue is how to do this most effectively.

According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 25 percent of Alaskans aged 18-25, and 11 percent of Alaskans over 25, use marijuana every month. To believe marijuana should remain a crime, one must also believe that all marijuana-using adults are criminals who need the possibility of jail time hanging over their heads.

The truth is, whether one likes it or not, it's financially and practically impossible to enforce existing marijuana laws against even a small percentage of marijuana users, even if we wanted to. Today we have about 6,000 people in prison. Arresting and prosecuting all Alaskans who use marijuana would quadruple prison costs and require many new prisons.

The problems caused by marijuana prohibition in Alaska are indistinguishable from the problems created by America's experiment with alcohol prohibition in the early 20th century. Many blatantly ignore the law, which is selectively enforced. We have a thriving black market in marijuana and an untaxed underground economy.

Instead of keeping unenforced and unenforceable criminal laws on the books, we need a regulatory structure similar to alcohol, with sensible regulations that spell out to whom marijuana may be sold, where it may be used, what forms of marijuana are allowed in stores, and how marijuana for sale must be labeled and packaged. We also need an effective marijuana tax to pay for and enforce the new regulatory structure. Ballot Measure 2 gives us both.

Ballot Measure 2 also includes a local option law, allowing local communities to completely ban the sale (and manufacture) of marijuana within their boundaries.

Like all new laws, this one may need to be amended and tweaked in the future as we learn from Alaska's experience. However, given the breadth of regulatory authority over marijuana provided in Ballot Measure 2, most of the problems opponents cite can easily be cured in the regulations.

The bottom line: existing marijuana prohibition laws aren't working and haven't worked for years. By having laws more honored in the breach than the observance, as is the case with marijuana, we help breed disrespect for all our laws.

It's time to try a better approach to regulating marijuana and we get that from Ballot Measure 2. It will have my vote on Nov. 4.

Laurie Constantino worked her way to the top of Alaska's Criminal Division between 1976 and 1996. Her final job before retirement was supervising all district attorney offices and setting criminal justice policy for Alaska.