In a sluggish economy, as states are struggling to keep the books balanced, several have been asked to discuss the legalization and regulation of marijuana, both as a cost saver and as a source of tax revenue. Under current law, a first time arrest for possession of marijuana for personal use is a misdemeanor. A second or subsequent conviction is a class C felony, punishable by one year and one day to 10 years in prison. State law does not differentiate between distribution of marijuana and distribution of other controlled substances.

2006 gubernatorial candidate Loretta Nall is one of the more passionate and outspoken voices for reforming Alabama’s marijuana laws.

“Since prohibition of marijuana has never worked, I see nothing but positives in legalizing, taxing and regulating the sale to adults. I think the question that needs to be asked is, ‘What is one positive thing that has come from the prohibition of marijuana,’” Nall wrote in a prepared statement. “I can’t think of one. Outlawing it and locking up its peaceful consumers in prison cells has not stopped other people from using it, reduced the flow of it into this country, decreased crime or kept it out of the hands of children…Drug dealers don’t ask for ID, so any kid who knows where to get some can acquire it.”

Nall also sites border violence in Mexico as a factor against the current practice, then outlines what she would consider the seven biggest benefits of legalization.

First, it would significantly reduce prison overcrowding. According to her figures, Nall says that some 30 percent of Alabama inmates are serving time for non-violent drug offenses at a cost to taxpayers of $117 million per year. The Department of Corrections does not differentiate between those convicted of marijuana possession and those convicted of other controlled substance crimes, however, so it is difficult to say how many of these inmates are serving time exclusively on marijuana charges, but she sites a study by The Birmingham News estimating marijuana arrests constitute about half of all drug arrests.

“We spend $13,000 per year to house a person in prison in Alabama for smoking a joint, while we only spend a little over $8,000 per year to send a child to school. We spend more to incarcerate than we do to educate.”

Secondly, she said, legalization would “enable us to use drug courts and treatment resources for actual hard core drug addicts and law enforcement resources for catching dangerous criminals who are a very real threat to the public. Taxes from the sale of marijuana could even be used to help pay for drug court and treatment. Alabama has a dismal lack of treatment beds available and drug courts are clogged with pot smokers who are then sent to treatment where they take up space that could be occupied by someone addicted to meth or opiates, or they are sent to occupy prison space that should really be occupied by a violent criminal.”

Legalization would also make it more difficult for children to acquire, while at the same time making it more widely available for medicinal purposes for people suffering from cancer, HIV/AIDs and other afflictions where marijuana has shown some potential benefit. It would also take money away from violent drug cartels and create agricultural jobs, she argues.

“We cannot afford to keep enforcing a law that has never and will never meet its stated objective. Taxes raised from the legal sale of marijuana could be used to fund worthy programs like education, health care, treatment for real drug addicts and a whole host of other worthy programs. Legalizing would allow the state to make money from marijuana as opposed to insisting that it cost the taxpayers money. We'd save all that we spend on incarceration, court costs and law enforcement resources and make money on top of what was saved. Not to mention that legalizing marijuana would reaffirm that we own our own bodies and not the government,” she concluded.

Nall said she had posted items about legalization of marijuana and hemp (a natural fiber derived from the same plant) on gubernatorial candidate Artur Davis’s Web site, and while the items were popular with users, the candidate himself has remained silent on the issue.

Jason Murray, commander of the Talladega County Drug and Violent Crime Task Force, sees the issue very differently, pointing out that marijuana remains the major gateway drug to more dangerous substances such as cocaine and methamphetamine.

“In my personal opinion, if you want to live somewhere where marijuana is legal, I would suggest you move to Colorado or California. As long as I have been doing this, I could probably count on one hand the number of meth or cocaine users who didn’t start with marijuana. We don’t need to make it legal. The gateway theory has been proven, and if we tried to regulate it, the problems would just be beginning.”

Murray points to Amsterdam, perhaps the most high profile jurisdiction to legalize most controlled substances, as a cautionary tale.

“Amsterdam has more addicts living on the street than any other city in Europe or the world. It is a massive draw on their society over there.”

Murray also rejects the argument that marijuana actually acts as a gateway drug because it is illegal.

“I don’t know how you could make that argument,” he said. “I don’t know of any study or any set of statistics showing that legalizing marijuana would (help prevent) any other kind of drug activity.”

He added, “I will say, though, that I do believe marijuana does have some medicinal advantages, for cancer patients, for example. But we’re a nation that sends people into space, put men on the moon. I’m sure they could take the components of the drug that are beneficial and put them into pill form. But what it comes down to is that this is something that has been studied for 30 years. There is definite clinical data out there that show that marijuana destroys brain cells, that an A student that starts smoking marijuana regularly will drop at least one letter grade. Keep in mind, this is not a law enforcement perspective. These are scientific studies that were conducted by people who are supposed to be a lot smarter than me.”

Talladega County District Attorney Steve Giddens said he was also utterly opposed.

“I get asked about that from time to time, not just about marijuana but about crack and methamphetamine as well,” Giddens said. “People call my office, and people call law enforcement, and say they’ve got dealers down the street, meth labs down the street, and they’re scared. We go out, we make arrests, we get them off the street. If these drugs were legalized, there would be nothing we could do. I am totally opposed to that.”

When asked whether legalization might actually reduce street crime, Giddens said it wouldn’t. “We ended prohibition of alcohol, but that didn’t put the moonshiners out of business, did it?”

Talladega County Presiding Circuit Judge Julian King was also strongly opposed.

“Legalization of controlled substances is an issue for the legislative branch of our government to decide, but I am personally and professionally opposed to legalization of marijuana. I have seen first hand in the court system the byproducts of that substance and other drugs.”

St. Clair County District Attorney Richard Minor is also opposed to legalization. “That’s really an issue for the legislature. My office enforces the law. Right now, the legislature says marijuana is illegal, so it’s illegal. But based on my experiences over the last 15 years, if I was a legislator and did have a vote, I would vote to maintain the law as it is now. I’m sure there are a few out there, but I have never met a meth or crack addict that didn’t say they smoked marijuana first. Maybe legalization might eliminate that first step for some people, but I don’t think so.”

During a PowerPoint presentation Minor frequently gives to groups about methamphetamine is a drawing done by an elementary school age child.

“The children were told to draw a picture of a problem in their family. This child drew a stick figure in front of a stove and labeled it ‘Dad making meth.’ The next picture showed a stick figure chopping up meth on a plate and then smoking it. The last picture shows the stick figure with a cigarette and is labeled ‘Dad smokes pot.’”

He also pointed out that “Legalization is not just a topic of debate in the legislature, it’s also a topic among prosecutors in some parts of the country. In California, prosecutors have been told not to make any marijuana cases, so there’s a political issue at work too.”