Again this year cannabis legalization is before the Legislature as HB 110 - The Delaware Marijuana Control Act. This is a good bill that will end eight decades of injustice, reduce crime, and create many good jobs here in Delaware. It deserves our support.
Regardless of one’s opinion on cannabis use, one thing is clear: the current policy of prohibition is a total failure. It has not reduced the supply of or the demand for cannabis; it has only fostered the illicit drug market and criminalized otherwise law-abiding citizens. To continue a policy that has been an abject failure since 1937 is sheer folly. We can do better.
The opponents of legalization base their arguments on a central fallacy: that HB 110 creates a cannabis market. Recent surveys peg cannabis use in Delaware at 14.9 percent; that equates to well over 125,000 cannabis consumers (based on population estimates). The market is already here and thriving; all HB 110 does is move this sizable market to regulated, legitimate businesses that provide safety, jobs and revenue. Illicit drug dealers do not control access or implement other public safety measures - cannabis businesses will.
Opponents cite the lack of a roadside test for cannabis, yet fail to mention that the only drug for which there is such a test is alcohol. There are no roadside tests for opiates, amphetamines, benzodiazepines, barbiturates, or any other drug that may impair driving. Despite this, police make arrests for impaired driving for all these substances and cannabis too.
Any problems associated with irresponsible cannabis use are already here. Regulation gives better means to educate the public and handle problems. As cannabis consumption does not increase markedly in legal states, nor should problems increase greatly either. HB 110 does not legalize impaired driving, and it specifically upholds the right of employers to dismiss intoxicated employees.
Legal states report reduced opiate usage, lower alcohol consumption, and lower teen use of cannabis - all benefits to public safety.
We have but three more weeks before the Legislature adjourns. If you are one of the nearly two-thirds of Delawareans who support legalization, now is the time to tell your legislators to support HB 110.
Mark Jacobs
Lewes
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