Dear Alaska and Oregon,
I hear you've both got marijuana legalization initiatives on your November ballots. You're thinking about taking the plunge. For those of you still undecided, let me offer some neighborly advice.
Two years ago I was in your shoes. I lived in Washington state. I had two teenage kids. I hadn't smoked a joint since college. I was leaning toward a no vote on Initiative 502, our marijuana proposition. Pot? Meh. I didn't like it, didn't use it, didn't want my kids to have easier access to it.
A few days before the election, my friend Linda Mangel, a civil rights lawyer, challenged my opinion. "Listen," she said. "This is not about you." Nobody cares whether you like pot or hate it, she said. "This is a race issue. It's a civil rights issue. There are generations of black men in prison because they were caught with a substance that's less harmful than alcohol. You're a white guy so you don't have to worry about it. Others do."
I went home and thought about it. I did some research. She was right. Every year about 750,000 Americans are arrested for pot. Those arrests lead to jail time, lost jobs and broken families. Those penalties are far more likely to hit people who aren't white. White people and black people use marijuana at about the same rate, but black people are four times more likely to be arrested on pot charges.
Though my feelings about pot hadn't changed, I couldn't deny the data. The War on Drugs had devolved into a convenient excuse to stop and frisk dark-skinned people. My friend was right. I held my nose and voted in favor of legalization.
The next morning I woke up and saw that I'd helped change history. Washington state had legalized. A shock of anxiety went through me. What in the world had we just done?
I've spent the past two years trying to answer that question. I'm a science writer; I look for evidence and data, then force myself to think on the page. I took a deep dive into the scientific research on marijuana and the brain. I went behind the scenes with pot farmers, retailers, regulators and researchers. I watched, day by day, as Washington and Colorado rolled out their tightly controlled marijuana industries. I saw my own town, like every municipality in the state, struggle to find the appropriate places to allow its production and sale.
And I spoke with my kids about it. At first they were a little freaked out about their square father writing about marijuana. Now they laugh about it. Pot legalization -- and my own interest in it -- has broken the taboo that exists around the subject. I keep them updated on what I find. Last night, after watching an episode of "New Girl," we talked about pot and how it messes with the wiring of the developing brain. (OK; I talked, they listened. But there were jokes.)
After two years of legalization, and three months of open retail pot shops, here's what's different about daily life in Washington state: Almost nothing. Marijuana isn't more or less of a presence in our lives. My kids have no easier access to it. There's no epidemic of drugged drivers on the road. There are no drug fiends running riot in the streets. What's mainly changed is this: In my state we no longer needlessly arrest and ruin the lives of 12,000 to 15,000 people every year.
Is everything working perfectly? No. We've had supply and demand problems, but we're working those out as more growers get licensed and more pot shops open. Colorado has provided some cautionary tales regarding marijuana-infused edibles (ask New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd), and regulators there and in my own state have acted quickly to correct the dosage problems. But it's a new law. It's a newly legal product. We're learning and adapting as we go along.
Two years after casting my vote, I'm no longer on the fence about pot legalization. I'm living in a legal state, and I'm convinced that it's the right thing to do. Legalization isn't a foolish experiment. It's progress, and it works.
Bruce Barcott lives in Bainbridge Island, Washington. His forthcoming book, "Weed the People: A Journey Into America's Legalized Future," will be published in April 2015.
The views expressed here are the writer's own and are not necessarily endorsed by Alaska Dispatch News, which welcomes a broad range of viewpoints. To submit a piece for consideration, email commentary(at)alaskadispatch.com.