By Stephen C. Webster
Tuesday, August 28, 2012 11:23 EDT
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More than 100 college professors across the nation signed an open letter on Tuesday endorsing a Colorado ballot measure that would legalize marijuana and regulate it like alcohol, in a move timed to coincide with President Barack Obama?s campaign stop at Colorado State University.
The letter was released by The Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol, the principal group supporting Amendment 64, the marijuana legalization ballot initiative being put before voters this November. The law would permit adults over the age of 21 to possess one ounce of marijuana or six marijuana plants. It does not propose any any changes that would affect employee drug testing or laws prohibiting driving while intoxicated.
Most of the letter?s co-signers identified themselves as coming from ?the fields of law, health, economics, and criminal justice.?
?For decades, our country has pursued a policy of marijuana prohibition that has been just as ineffective and wasteful as alcohol prohibition,? they wrote. ?We have reviewed Amendment 64 and concluded that it presents an effective, responsible, and much-needed new approach for Colorado and the nation.?
President Obama, meanwhile, is due to make a stop at Colorado State University on Tuesday afternoon as part of a three-state campaign swing focusing on college campuses right at the start of a new school year. He?s expected to reiterate his support for freezing student loan interest rates and attack Mitt Romney for saying that hopeful students should just borrow money from their parents or join the military.
The president has consistently said he opposes to marijuana legalization, and his administration has been adamant about prosecuting hundreds of licensed marijuana vendors in states that have legalized the drug for medical use.
?The State of Colorado, as well as our nation, have successfully walked the path from prohibition to regulation in the past,? the professors concluded. ?Eighty years ago, Colorado voters approved a ballot initiative to repeal alcohol prohibition at the state level, which was followed by repeal at the federal level. This year, we have the opportunity to do the same thing with marijuana and once again lead the nation toward more sensible, evidence-based laws and policies.?
An August survey by the Democratic-affiliated Public Policy Polling group found that 47 percent of Colorado voters favor Amendment 64, while just 38 percent oppose it.
Read the full letter below.
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To the Voters of Colorado:
As professors in the fields of law, health, economics, and criminal justice, among others, we write this open letter to encourage a sensible, evidence-based approach to marijuana policy, and to endorse Amendment 64, the initiative on this year?s ballot to regulate marijuana like alcohol in Colorado.
For decades, our country has pursued a policy of marijuana prohibition that has been just as ineffective and wasteful as alcohol prohibition. We have reviewed Amendment 64 and concluded that it presents an effective, responsible, and much-needed new approach for Colorado and the nation.
Marijuana prohibition has proven to be the worst possible system when it comes to protecting teens, driving marijuana into the underground market where proof of age is not required and where other illegal products might be available. In a regulated system, marijuana sales will be taken off the streets and put behind a counter where age restrictions are strictly enforced. There is evidence that regulating marijuana works. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, marijuana use among Colorado high school students declined from 2009 to 2011, the time during which the state began regulating medical marijuana sale. Meanwhile, it increased nationwide, where no such regulations were implemented.
Given our current economic climate, we must evaluate the efficacy of expensive government programs and make responsible decisions about the use of state resources. Enforcing marijuana prohibition is wasting our state?s limited criminal justice resources and eroding respect for the law. Our communities would be better served if the resources we currently spend to investigate, arrest, and prosecute people for marijuana offenses each year were redirected to focus on violent and otherwise harmful crimes. According to the Colorado Center on Law and Policy, passage of Amendment 64 would immediately save local and state law enforcement officials more than $12 million per year, and it could save more than $36 million per year within the first five years. Paired with new state and local revenues, the initiative has the potential to generate more than $120 million per year for Colorado and its localities.
It is also important to note that Amendment 64 does not change existing laws regarding driving under the influence of marijuana, and it allows employers to maintain all of their current employment and drug-testing policies.
The State of Colorado, as well as our nation, have successfully walked the path from prohibition to regulation in the past. Eighty years ago, Colorado voters approved a ballot initiative to repeal alcohol prohibition at the state level, which was followed by repeal at the federal level. This year, we have the opportunity to do the same thing with marijuana and once again lead the nation toward more sensible, evidence-based laws and policies.
Please join us in supporting Amendment 64, the initiative to regulate marijuana like alcohol.
Sincerely,
Burton Abrams
Professor of Economics
University of Delaware
Daron Acemoglu
Professor of Economics
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Patricia A. Adler
Professor of Sociology
University of Colorado Boulder
Peter Adler
Professor of Sociology and Criminology
University of Denver
Sunil Aggarwal
Researcher, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
New York University School of Medicine
Ty Alper
Clinical Professor of Law
U.C. Berkeley School of Law
Howard Baetjer, Jr.
Lecturer, Department of Economics
Towson University
Jennifer Ball
Associate Professor of Economics
Washburn University
W. David Ball
Assistant Professor
Santa Clara School of Law
Randy Barnett
Carmack Waterhouse Professor of Legal Theory
Georgetown Law
Humberto Barreto
Elizabeth P. Allen Distinguished University Professor, Economics and Management
DePauw University
Art Benavie
Emeritus Professor of Economics
University of North Carolina
Douglas A. Berman
Professor of Law
Moritz College of Law, Ohio State University
Marc Bilodeau
Associate Professor of Economics
Indiana University
Cyrus Bina
Distinguished Research Professor of Economics
University of Minnesota
Miriam W. Boeri
Associate Professor of Sociology
Kennesaw State University
Bruce Caldwell
Professor of Economics
Duke University
David Campbell
Lecturer in Economics
Pepperdine University Graziadio School of Business
Tapoja Chaudhuri
Visiting Assistant Professor of Anthropology
Haverford College
Lawrence R. Cima
Associate Professor of Economics
John Carroll University
Richard D. Coe
Professor of Economics and Chair of the Faculty
New College of Florida
Robert A. Collinge
Professor of Economics, Retired
University of Texas at San Antonio
Mike Cummings
Professor of Political Science and President?s Teaching Scholar
University of Colorado Denver
William L. Davis
Professor of Economics
University of Tennessee at Martin
Dale DeBoer
Professor of Economics
University of Colorado Colorado Springs
Ranjit S. Dighe
Chair and Professor, Department of Economics
SUNY College at Oswego
K.K. DuVivier
Professor of Law
University of Denver Sturm College of Law
Mitch Earleywine
Professor of Psychology
University at Albany
Fred Foldvary
Lecturer in Economics, San Jose State University
Director, Civil Society Institute, Santa Clara University
Sean Fox
Professor, Department of Agricultural Economics
Kansas State University
Arthur Gilbert
Associate Professor, Josef Korbel School of International Studies
University of Denver
Tom Ginsburg
Leo Spitz Professor of International Law, Ludwig and Hilde Wolf Research Scholar
University of Chicago Law School
Michael D. Goldberg
Roland H. O?Neal Professor and Professor of Economics
University of New Hampshire
Hava Rachel Gordon
Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology and Criminology
Director, Gender and Women?s Studies Program
University of Denver
Philip E. Graves
Professor of Economics
University of Colorado
Colleen E. Haight
Assistant Professor of Economics
San Jose State University
Robert M. Hardaway
Professor of Law
University of Denver Sturm College of Law
Mark J. Heyrman
Clinical Professor of Law
University of Chicago Law School
Leslie Irvine
Associate Professor of Sociology
University of Colorado Boulder
Habib Jam
Professor of Economics
Rowan University
Erika Joye
Instructor of Psychology
Metropolitan State College of Denver
Daniel Klein
Professor of Economics
George Mason University
Alex Kreit
Associate Professor of Law
Thomas Jefferson School of Law
William D. Lastrapes
Professor of Economics
University of Georgia
David Levine
John H. Biggs Distinguished Professor of Economics
Washington University
Terry Liska
Professor Emeritus of Economics
University of Wisconsin
Mark J. Loewenstein
Monfort Professor of Commercial Law
University of Colorado Law School
David M. Long
Assistant Professor, Criminal Justice and Legal Studies
Brandman University
Leigh Maddox
Adjunct Professor of Law
University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law
Ann Magennis
Professor of Anthropology
Colorado State University
Paul M. Mason
Professor of Economics
University of North Florida
Robert Melamede
Professor of Biology
University of Colorado at Colorado Springs
Mark Montgomery
Donald L. Wilson Professor of Enterprise and Leadership, Economics
Grinnell College
Suzanna K. Moran
Lawyering Process Professor
University of Denver Sturm College of Law
Leon N. Moses
Emeritus Professor of Economics
Northwestern University
Peter Moskos
Professor, Department of Law, Police Science, and Criminal Justice Administration
John Jay College of Criminal Justice
Tracy Mott
Chair and Associate Professor, Department of Economics
University of Denver
Stephen Mumme
Professor of Political Science
Colorado State University
Richard F. Muth
Calloway Professor of Economics Emeritus
Emory University
Joanne Naughton
Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice, Retired
Mercy College
Thomas Nail
Postdoctoral Lecturer in Philosophy
University of Denver
Inder P. Nijhawan
Professor Emeritus, School of Business and Economics
Fayetteville State University
Kevin O?Brien
Chair and Associate Professor, Department of Business Ethics and Legal Studies
University of Denver
Patrick O?Brien
Professor of Sociology
University of Colorado Boulder
Brendan O?Flaherty
Professor of Economics
Columbia University
Randall O?Reilly
Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience
University of Colorado Boulder
Michelle Oberman
Professor of Law
Santa Clara University School of Law
Alexandre Padilla
Associate Professor of Economics
Metropolitan State University of Denver
Pete Padilla
Instructor of Sociology
University of Colorado Denver
Michael Perelman
Professor of Economics
California State University
Dina Perrone
Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice
California State University ? Long Beach
Mark J. Perry
Professor of Economics
University of Michigan
Chiara Piovani
Assistant Professor of Economics
University of Denver
Mark Pogrebin
Professor of Criminology
University of Colorado Denver
Raja Raghunath
Assistant Professor of Law
University of Denver Sturm College of Law
Valerie Ramey
Professor of Economics
University of California, San Diego
Amanda Reiman
Lecturer, Social Welfare
University of California Berkeley
Leonard Riley
Instructor of Political Science
University of Colorado Colorado Springs
Gregory Robbins
Professor of Religious Studies
University of Denver
Cesare Romano
Professor of Law
Loyola Law School Los Angeles
Paul Rubin
Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor of Economics
Emory University
John Ruggiero
Edmund B. O?Leary Professor of Economics
University of Dayton
David Sandoval
Professor of History (Ret.)
Colorado State University Pueblo
Raphael Sassower
Professor of Philosophy
University of of Colorado Colorado Springs
Scott Savage
Associate Professor of Economics
University of Colorado Boulder
Bill Schoen
Adjunct Instructor of Sociology
University of Colorado Denver
Andrew Abraham Schwartz
Associate Professor of Law
University of Colorado Law School
Hamid Shomali
Professor of Finance and Economics
Golden Gate University
Steven M. Shugan
McKethan-Matherly Eminent Scholar and Professor
University of Florida
Jonathan Simon
Adrian A. Kragen Professor of Law
U.C. Berkeley School of Law
Randy Simmons
Professor of Economics
Director of the Institute of Political Economy
Utah State University
Kenneth Small
Professor Emeritus of Economics
University of California at Irvine
Ilya Somin
Professor of Law
George Mason University School of Law
Courtenay C. Stone
Professor of Economics
Ball State University
Robert N. Strassfeld
Professor of Law
Case Western Reserve University School of Law
Nadine Strossen
Professor of Law
New York Law School
Scott Sumner
Professor of Economics
Bentley University
Shyam Gouri Suresh
Assistant Professor of Economics
Davidson College
Alex Tabarrok
Bartley J. Madden Professor of Economics
George Mason University
Betty Taylor
Professor of Criminal Justice and Humanities
University of Phoenix
Alex Thompson
Graduate Instructor of Sociology
University of Colorado Boulder
Richard H. Timberlake
Professor of Economics, Retired
University of Georgia
Alex Tokarev
Professor of Economics
Northwood University
John Tommasi
Senior Lecturer of Economics
Bentley University
Edward Tower
Professor of Economics
Duke University
Susan Tyburski
Lecturer on Law and Society
The Women?s College of the University of Denver
Mary Van Buren
Associate Professor of Anthropology
Colorado State University
Daniel A. Vigil
Assistant Dean and Adjunct Professor of Law
University of Denver Sturm College of Law
Alexander ?Sasha? Volokh
Associate Professor
Emory Law School
Mike Whitty
Adjunct Professor, School of Management
University of San Francisco
Madelyn V. Young
Associate Professor of Economics
Converse College
Edward H. Ziegler
Professor of Law and Robert B. Yegge Memorial Research Chair
University of Denver
Joseph Zoric
Associate Professor of Economics, MBA Director
Franciscan University of Steubenville
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