David Long: Villifying marijuana won’t change facts; it can be safe

Re “Why marijuana should remain illegal” (Page 3B, Nov.6): It’s sad to see such opposition to marijuana legalization, particularly because the arguments of Dr. Ed Gogek are misleading and based in fear rather than evidence. I would never advocate someone drive high, but research from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found that when controlled for other factors, such as age and gender, marijuana use by drivers does not appear to cause any increase in crash risk.

Dr. Gogek is right, marijuana isn’t safe for teens and may cause damage to the developing brain of adolescents. But this is one of strongest arguments in favor of legalizing marijuana. Kids can’t walk into a liquor store and demand alcohol. Regulating marijuana will, and has in some states, created a regulatory barrier.

Marijuana legalization might not keep a lot of people from going to prison, but it will definitely reduce the number of arrests. More than 600,000 people were arrested for marijuana possession in the U.S. last year. Meanwhile, clearance rates for violent and property crimes in the U.S. have been dropping for decades; not because we’re worse at solving crimes but because our resources are focused on the wrong crimes.

This story was originally published November 18, 2015 at 11:15 AM with the headline "David Long: Villifying marijuana won’t change facts; it can be safe."