David Masciotra

I don’t like marijuana, and I don’t enjoy socializing with people under its influence. But what separates me from most elected officials is that I am not so arrogant as to believe that my personal preferences function as divine mandates. Just because I don’t enjoy something, does not mean that you should not have the option of trying it, and if you do try it, you should not face the risk of criminal penalty.

There are many practical reasons to legalize marijuana. It would not only save money, but it also would create a bountiful source of new tax revenue. Governmental regulations would ensure the sale of a safer, healthier product, and once the legal product became available, killers, thieves and other exploiters of human misery would lose a source of revenue. Legalization also would give law enforcement more time, resources and energy to pursue the prevention and punishment of crimes that actually endanger innocent people.

Even if the financial and legal arguments for legalization weren’t sufficient, the moral argument -- people shouldn’t face prison for smoking a relatively harmless plant — is grounds enough for Indiana to join the sensible states of Colorado and Washington by making the possession and sale of marijuana legal and taxable.

The possession of even one joint in Indiana is punishable by up to one year in prison and a $5,000 fine. In 2007, there were 14,493 arrests for marijuana in Indiana, and in the same year, the Indiana Criminal Justice System spent $148.81 million processing, and prosecuting those arrests.

The temperance movement in the early 20th century gave rise to Prohibition, which became one of the most disastrous and laughable failures in the history of American law. Every American who raised a glass of booze during Prohibition understood at some level that it was tyrannical to dictate dietary laws to freethinking adults.

Just as most drinkers are not alcoholics, most marijuana smokers are not addicts. The tiny minority of users who will sacrifice their bodies and minds in chase of the next high require help from family, friends and doctors, not police officers, judges and wardens. They also exemplify a painful truism of organizing a free society: Freedom must include the option of stupidity.

Masciotra is the author of “All That We Learned About Living: The Art and Legacy of John Mellencamp” (forthcoming, The University Press of Kentucky) and “Against Traffic: Essays on Politics and Identity.” For more information visit www.davidmasciotra.com.