Will R. Glaspy

Guest Columnist

Arguments in favor of marijuana legalization fail to recognize some fundamental truths about marijuana and the effects of its legalization.

In the United States, drug abuse, addiction and related criminal activity are serious and complex problems for which there are no simple, quick-fix solutions. The federal government pursues a balanced approach of education, treatment, and enforcement.

Advocates of drug legalization would have the public believe that prisons are packed with minor marijuana violators. This is false. For example, federal inmates serving drug sentences are typically large-scale traffickers with additional violations involving firearms, money laundering, or other significant crimes.

Legalization advocates often argue that the cost of enforcement is too high. In reality, drug control spending is less than 1 percent of the federal budget, and the largest slice goes towards treatment rather than law enforcement.

By comparison, the social and economic costs of drug abuse and addiction are staggering. The latest estimates from the White House’s Office of National Drug Control Policy put the costs of drug abuse in the U.S. at $180 billion annually, mainly in health care expenses and lost productivity.

Assertions that marijuana legalization has not increased use among Colorado youth are simply wrong. A recent report by the Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area on the effects of legalization in Colorado shows that past-month marijuana use by young people has increased 20 percent since the state legalized recreational marijuana in 2012, and that such use ranks No. 1 in the nation and is 74 percent higher than the national average.

The report also indicates significant increases in adult use, emergency room visits, hospitalizations, crime, and marijuana-related traffic deaths. Additionally, legitimate scientific and medical studies clearly indicate that the use of marijuana from a young age substantially increases the chance of developing lower IQs and mental illnesses such as schizophrenia.

Also troubling is the number of felonies committed by persons who are under the influence or have recently used an illegal drug. According to the Arrestee Monitoring Abuse Program, in 2013 over 52 percent of people arrested for violent crimes in Denver tested positive for marijuana.

Legalization advocates often point to an apparent windfall in tax revenues and job creation in states that legalize marijuana. In fact, Colorado’s annual tax revenue from the sale of recreational and medical marijuana only amounts to approximately 0.5 percent of its statewide budget.

Due to workplace safety and productivity concerns, more employers are implementing general workplace drug testing, and in recent years there has been a significant increase in the number of employees who test positive for marijuana.

In the long run, the increased usage of marijuana that results from legalization will only lead to more limited employment opportunities for a large number of people.

We do not want our nation to promote drug abuse of any kind, including marijuana, and we should never make our communities less productive, less healthy or less safe in order to squeeze out a relatively few extra dollars in tax revenue.

Finally, the legalization lobby would have us believe that legalizing marijuana will somehow eliminate organized crime. Again, another falsehood.

Since the legalization of marijuana in Colorado, we have seen criminal organizations, hoping to take advantage of state law and a perceived lack of enforcement, move into the state to establish large-scale illicit marijuana grows and distribution networks to undercut “legal” sales in the state, as well as to illegally traffic marijuana to markets outside of Colorado.

The Mexican drug cartels are not wholly dependent on the exportation of marijuana to the U.S. They are sophisticated international criminal organizations already engaged in the trafficking of other drugs such as cocaine, methamphetamine, and heroin, as well as a variety of other crimes as diverse as extortion, kidnapping, and theft of petroleum. Markets adapt; so do the cartels.

An open debate regarding our drug laws is healthy for our state; however, Texans deserve to have accurate information on this important issue.

Will R. Glaspy is special agent in charge of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s El Paso Division.