By Paul Armentano

Critics of a proposal to legalize marijuana in California argue that pot’s health and social costs would not be offset by the taxes generated were its adult use regulated. Opponents make this charge because the retail and excise taxes presently levied on the production and sale of alcohol and tobacco do not adequately cover their social costs.

True enough, but here’s why this fact is not relevant to the marijuana debate.

1) Marijuana is not alcohol.

Alcohol is toxic to healthy cells and organs, a side effect that results directly in some 35,000 deaths per year from illnesses like cirrhosis, ulcers, and heart disease. Heavy alcohol consumption can depress the central nervous system – inducing unconsciousness, coma, and death – and is strongly associated with increased risks of injury. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, alcohol plays a role in about 41,000 fatal accidents per year. Alcohol consumption also plays a primary role in the commission of acts of violence. In fact, according to the federal Bureau of Justice Crime Statistics, alcohol consumption plays a role in the commission of approximately one million violent crimes annually.

By contrast, the active compounds in marijuana, known as cannabinoids, are remarkably non-toxic. Unlike alcohol, marijuana is incapable of causing fatal overdose — cannabinoids do not act upon the brain stem — and its use is inversely associated with aggression and injury. Unlike alcohol, the use of cannabis is not linked to increased risk of mortality or various types of cancer – including lung cancer – and may even reduce such risk. For instance, a 2009 study in the journal Cancer Prevention Research reports that moderate use of marijuana is associated with “a significantly reduced risk of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.”

2) Cannabis is not tobacco.

Health-related costs per user are eight times higher for drinkers than they are for those who use cannabis, and are more than 40 times higher for tobacco smokers, according to the report, by the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse and published in the British Columbia Mental Health and Addictions Journal.

It states, “In terms of [health-related] costs per user: tobacco-related health costs are over $800 per user, alcohol-related health costs are much lower at $165 per user, and cannabis-related health costs are the lowest at $20 per user.”

3) Tens of millions of Americans use presently use marijuana and pay no taxes on the product at all.

According to a 2007 George Mason University economic study, U.S. citizens each year spend some $113 billion on marijuana. Under prohibition, all of this spending is directed toward an underground economy and goes untaxed. That means the state and local governments are presently collecting zero dollars to offset societal and health costs related to its population’s recreational marijuana use, and that the imposition of any retail tax or excise fee would be an improvement over the current situation.

The assessment that present taxes on alcohol and tobacco — two deadly products — do not raise sufficient funding to offset their related social costs is not an argument in favor of maintaining the status quo, particularly when one recognizes that the social and health costs related to cannabis use are far less than those associated with the use of other intoxicants.

It is irrational for our society to condone, if not encourage, the use of alcohol and tobacco while simultaneously stigmatizing and criminalizing the use of cannabis.

Paul Armentano is the Deputy Director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) in Washington, DC, and he is the co-author of the book Marijuana Is Safer: So Why Are We Driving People to Drink? (Chelsea Green, 2009). He lives in Vallejo.

Related posts:

1. Marijuana-Related Health Costs Minimal Compared To Those Of Alcohol, Tobacco Health-related costs per user are eight times higher for drinkers...
2. A Doctor’s Case For Legal Pot By DAVID L. NATHAN Most Americans are paying too much...
3. The great legalization debate: Marijuana Many people scoff at the idea, but legalize marijuana, regulate...
4. Huge, Legal Cannabis Farm Study Surprises Industry, Officials The groundbreaking study showing how the City of Oakland could...
5. New Study Finds Marijuana Could Be Treatment for Alcohol Abuse Researchers at the University of California-Berkeley have found that substituting...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

This entry was posted on May 14, 2010 at 12:05 pm. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

Posted in Drug Related Editor's Picks Government Health & Medical Politics by Stephen No Comments Yet