Statesman Journal Editorial Board

How far has Oregon come from the "Reefer Madness" era of the 1930s? Are voters ready to end the state's 70-year prohibition against marijuana use?

Those questions will be answered at the Nov. 4 election. But they are too important for Oregonians to leave unstudied until then.

An initiative has qualified for the general election ballot that would allow recreational use of marijuana. A person could possess as much as 8 ounces of marijuana and as many as four plants.

Oregon in 1973 was the first state to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana and in 1998 become one of the early states to approve medical marijuana. However, Democratic Gov. John Kitzhaber and his Republican challenger, Rep. Dennis Richardson, agreed during their debate a week ago that Oregon should wait and see how well legalized marijuana works in Washington state and Colorado before allowing it here.

The estimated number of Oregonians who regularly use marijuana for non-medical purposes ranges from 8 percent in one study to 14 percent in another study.

This year's initiative appears to be better written that the wide-open proposal trounced by Oregon voters two years ago. The 2014 initiative would put the Oregon Liquor Control Commission in charge of recreational marijuana, regulating and taxing it similarly to alcohol. Marijuana use would not be allowed in public places or by anyone under age 21.

The advocates' overriding argument is that marijuana is no worse than alcohol; indeed, recreational marijuana appears not to have the same link to domestic violence and other crimes that alcohol does. In addition, police and judicial resources could be freed up by no longer pursuing low-level marijuana cases.

Yet alcohol, given its mix of destructive and beneficial effects on society, may not be a good comparison. Furthermore, marijuana remains illegal under federal law. There are valid questions as to whether relaxing the state's marijuana laws would create more enforcement issues for authorities.

The ballot measure would earmark tax proceeds for administration, drug treatment, schools, mental health care, Oregon State Police and local law enforcement. But the $38.5 million estimated to be generated from marijuana taxes during the first year is a relative pittance when divided among all those uses.

There can be little question that America's "war on drugs" is a dismal failure.

Our federal policy is so cockeyed that marijuana is classified as being among the most dangerous drugs, along with heroin, LSD and Ecstasy — and worse than oxycodone, methamphetamine and cocaine. Meanwhile, drug treatment is so lacking that courts have become a revolving door for low-level drug users.

Is the answer to legalize recreational marijuana, to invest heavily in drug treatment — or both? Will legal marijuana effectively end the proliferation of illegal pot plantations and the influence of drug cartels in Oregon?

Those questions, and others, defy easy answers.