[420 Girl]

With the Massachusetts state budget slated to be cut by as much as $1.5 billion as a result of falling revenues, we should give some consideration to any proposal that promises to save the state money without slashing vital human services programs for the elderly, children, and the poor.

Voters will have an opportunity to embrace one such proposal in the November election: the decriminalization of possession of small amounts of marijuana.

However, I believe that this proposal does not go far enough.

In 2007, 3308 persons were newly committed to the custody of the state department of corrections. Of this number, only 35% were committed for violent offenses.A full 33% of new inmates were sentenced for nonviolent drug-related offenses.

Between 2000 and 2005, the rate of violent crime in Massachusetts declined (from 4.7 offenses to 4.6 per 1000 of population) but incarceration rates increased by 34% (from 2343 new commitments in 2000 to 3149 in 2005) .

In 2007, the state spent over $360 million dollars on the salaries of correction officers and other prison staff.

The Department of Corrections appears to be a booming industry, so much so that correction officer positions have recently been advertised on the side of MBTA buses.

I don’t know of any other state jobs that are advertised in this fashion, especially now that most state agencies and departments are poised for cutbacks

It is doubtful that many people been prevented from using illicit drugs, or convinced to stop using them, by the drug laws. Drugs are always available for those who want them, and there are likewise always sufficient customers for every drug.

People stop using drugs in the same way (and for the same reasons) that they stop using alcohol: the economic and/or interpersonal problems created by the substance outweigh the pleasurable effects of the substance, causing people turn to programs like Alcoholics Anonymous.

Alcohol has been repeatedly shown to be far more dangerous than marijuana, playing a greater role in accidental deaths , suicides, homicides, and mental illness as well as directly causing a number of deaths through overdose (alcohol poisoning) and liver disease.

The state should legalize marijuana, and tax its sale by licensed retailers, just as it does this more dangerous intoxicant, alcohol. This would accomplish three desirable objectives: it would raise needed revenue, it would decrease drug-related crime by eliminating the lucrative black market, and it would significantly reduce unnecessary financial burdens on the judiciary and the Department of Corrections.

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