Marijuana legalization has both advantages, disadvantages

By Stephanie Dolan 

There’s the medical story. There’s the political story. And then there’s the personal story.

Marijuana sales in Colorado in 2015 reached nearly $1 billion and, before the end of October 2016, the $1 billion mark had been surpassed for the year. That money was earmarked for education, infrastructure and a cushion for a state budget so well padded that “budget cuts” are becoming bad memories.

Paul Armentano, deputy director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, wrote in The Economist that Colorado’s experiment with marijuana legalization is a resounding success.

“In 2014, retail cannabis sales raised some $76 million in tax revenue and fees, according to data compiled by the Colorado Department of Revenue,” he said. “Under prohibition, this money is diverted to black-market entrepreneurs, not to licensed businesses.”

Marijuana prosecutions also fell dramatically in Colorado, saving the state millions of dollars in court and jail costs.

“Ultimately, however, the case for legalization is not solely an economic one,” Armentano said. “Criminalization of cannabis encroaches upon civil liberties, engenders disrespect for the law, impedes legitimate scientific research into the plant’s medicinal properties and disproportionately affects communities of color. That is why a majority of Americans recognize that a pragmatic regulatory framework that allows for the limited, licensed commercial production and retail sale of cannabis to adults is preferable to criminal prohibition.”

While it may be said that a logically sound case may be built for marijuana legalization on facts and figures, there are certainly other things to consider aside from just the bottom dollar.

“I have an identical twin sister,” Plainfield Police Assistant Chief Maj. Carri Weber said. “She lives in South Dakota, and her name is Terri. She had twin boys, Brandon and Brady. Brady died last year on March 21 as a result of smoking marijuana and driving.”

Weber said Brady, then 22 and living in Mitchell, Neb., and a friend were out driving around and smoking marijuana.

“There’s nothing out there,” she said. “When you’re in a field and it’s flat, you can see for miles.

Out there, the way the interstates are, there are stop signs that come up right to the interstate,” Weber said.

 “It’s weird. They don’t merge like we do onto interstates. You just come up to the stop sign, look both ways and then you pull out. The road he was on was like a two-lane highway. I’d compare it to a U.S. 36 going into Danville. They came up to the stop sign. My nephew was a passenger in the vehicle. His friend was the driver. They were so high that they pulled in front of a semi-truck, and it killed them both instantly.”

Weber said it was not dark when the accident occurred, and there would have been nothing to block their view. She said the semi-truck driver was very badly affected by the accident.

Weber admits to trying pot when she was in high school, but when she realized that law enforcement was her ultimate goal, she never did it again.

“I was also very busy with sports in high school,” she said. “I didn’t have much time for anything else.”

Weber played basketball, volleyball and softball. She was offered a softball scholarship and attended Ball State University.

“It’s something that I think most kids will probably try sometime in their lives,” she said. “We’ve found, through new recruits, that it’s very rare to find someone who’s never smoked marijuana.

Those who haven’t really have to fight to make us believe they’ve never done it.”

Weber said she’s comfortable with most of the drug laws -- with one exception.

“The one law I struggle with is that you cannot, in the state of Indiana, be charged with a felony until you’ve been caught with 10 pounds of marijuana or more,” she said. “Ten pounds is a lot. That’s for more than personal use. So, to me, if you have 10 pounds, you’re a dealer. You’re not just possessing it for personal use. If you have an ounce, that’s personal use. When you have 10 pounds, then you’re selling it.”

As a former undercover officer on the drug task force, there is no love lost between Weber and drug dealers. She also recognizes that, due to some of the laws, marijuana is simply more socially acceptable nowadays.

“It’s not a felony to have a joint now,” she said. “Our legislation keeps looking at marijuana as though it’s not a big deal. Alcohol is also very socially acceptable, but if you get pulled over for drunk or impaired driving, that’s a misdemeanor. If you get another citation within five years, it’s a felony. You usually don’t get jail time out of it. I think it’s the laws that perpetuate that socially acceptable stigma. They’re not going to lower their laws or regulations on opiates though, because now we know that our opiates are getting a lot of heroin users started.”

While Weber won’t hesitate to make a marijuana arrest, depending on the circumstances, she won’t commit to marijuana as a gateway drug for every person who smokes it.

“It depends on the person,” she said.

Ironically, Weber is from Colorado. She too is familiar with the numbers and the revenue that marijuana sales are bringing in for the state.

“My mom still lives out there, in Evergreen, a small town just west of Denver,” she said.

“The homeless rate out there is very high now. People know they can smoke there, so they’re moving without the money for housing. They live in the parks and smoke all day.”

The growing homeless population is not the only problem Denver is experiencing.

“The marijuana has to be grown in a warehouse,” Weber said. “The dispensaries are just where they sell it. It has to be transported. They hire people to load up all this marijuana on the trucks. Denver’s not that far from Mexico. People are getting beaten, robbed and killed when they’re taking the marijuana from the warehouse to the dispensaries.”

While Weber has strong feelings about marijuana due to her family and law enforcement history, she is empathetic to the suffering with cancer or any other disease that marijuana or CBD oil might affect.
“I do have an aunt who has arthritis,” she said. “She went and got a brownie once. If it helps people medically, I’m okay with that -- if we can control it, if there is any way to ensure it’s used properly.

But we’re not controlling our opiates and right now we have a terrible heroin problem. So that scares me. We don’t do a good job of policing our opiates, so what would this do?”