My family went to Berlin on vacation this summer, via Amsterdam. Amsterdam, the Netherlands, the place you can smoke a joint without fear of being arrested, at least in the coffee shops of the Red Light District. We walked through the District several times and you smell the activity, but not once did I see anyone do anything but mind their own business. Amsterdam was as safe as any big city, if not safer than most of them in America.

And here is the connection between marijuna and the American taxpayer, particularly taxpayers in Georgia: prisons costs money. Georgia currently has about 60,000 state prisoners, which is more than in New York State. A heck of a lot of them are in prison for drugs, including minor drug offenses, like possession of marijuana.

Georgia marijuana laws are fairly strict. As I found out recently when I served on the grand jury, while possession of less than an ounce may be a misdemeanor, if you are caught with more than an ounce, you are charged with distributing, a felony. And if you have one plant in your back yard to “grow your own,” you will be charged with manufacturing (1 to 10 years), even if you are the only one that uses the stuff.

This made me schedule this interview with Allen St. Pierre, the Executive Director of NORML, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.

Allen explains it was 71 years ago this year that Congress passed a law that essentially made marijuana illegal. Actually, in 1937 the law required a tax stamp on marijuana, just like on cigarettes and alcohol. There was one problem. The government never issued the stamp. Somewhere in the 1960’s some smart guy decided to take the government to court and force it to issue the stamp and, of course, you know what happened: they changed the law.

In 1970 Congress passed the Controlled Substances Act. Everyone has heard of scheduled drugs. Drugs from morphine to oxycontin are scheduled. You can buy many scheduled drugs if you have a prescription, but marijuana is one of the drugs that you can’t have, legally, in any amount. It is in the category of drugs (Schedule 1) that Congress says adults can not use safely. Just like LSD, heroine and cocaine.

NORML believes marijuana should be legal and regulated, just like alcohol and tobacco. To put it another way, “use without abuse should be legal.” That, of course, would require that it be removed from the Schedule I list, which would require Congressional action, which would require intelligent evaluation, which would require elected officials who are wise, which would require…. which means it ain’t gonna happen for a few years. Allen estimates marijuana will be legalized within the next 8-12 years or so.

What is really humorous about any vigorous objection by conservatives to legalizing marijuana is the equally conservative mantra of “states rights.” Why not just let the states decided? Twelve states have passed medical marijuana. Thirteen states have decriminalized it, you pay a small fine if caught. In some states, California for one, you can buy 24-hours a day on the street in vending machines. Long live private enterprise!

Much of this state legal use is for medical purposes becasue marijuana gives relief to people who suffer from a lot of medical problems such as HIV-Aids, glaucoma, cancer, epilepsy and others. There are even a few people in America who can use marijuana legally under federal law. I think it is five. One of them is Irv Rosenfeld. If you really want a bird’s eye view of this controversy, listen to Irv’s testimony in Michigan before a legislative committee considering legalizing marijuana for medical purposes.

All the controversy over marijuana is pretty much a waste of time and money. Having said that, I assume I should never run for public office. Nevertheless, 26 to 30 million Americans (many of whom go to church) use it annually. More than 100 million have used it somewhere, sometime. Surprisingly, 47% admit to using it.

According to Allen, Harry J. Anslinger, the first drug czar 1932 to 1963, gave testimony before Congress in 1937 blaming marijuana for all sorts of bad things. Said Harry: “There are 100,000 total marijuana smokers in the US, and most are Negroes, Hispanics, Filipinos and entertainers. Their Satanic music, jazz and swing, result from marijuana usage. This marijuana causes white women to seek sexual relations with Negroes, entertainers and any others.” Way to go Harry, you fool.

According to Allen, Louis Armstrong smoked it every day of his life and was one of the greatest jazz musicians. And then, everyone knows about Willie Nelson!

I will tell you what is going to get marijuana legalized: money. The cost of enforcing prohibition and putting people in prison are going to tear the American taxpayer a new one in the next decade. The 2005 Miron Report found: (1) “legalizing marijuana would save $7.7 billion per year in government expenditure on enforcement of prohibition. $5.3 billion of this savings would accrue to state and local governments, while $2.4 billion would accrue to the federal government” and (2) “marijuana legalization would yield tax revenue of $2.4 billion annually if marijuana were taxed like all other goods and $6.2 billion annually if marijuana were taxed at rates comparable to those on alcohol and tobacco.”