12/27/2008 3:38:00 PM Goddard looks at legalizing marijuana
Capitol Media Services photo by Howard Fischer
Flanked by law enforcement officers, Attorney General Terry Goddard provides details Tuesday about the bust of a ring that smuggles marijuana into Arizona. Goddard, who said marijuana is a major source of cash for Mexican drug cartels, said the inability to measure how impaired someone is who uses marijuana is a key reason it has to be kept illegal here.
By Howard Fischer Capitol Media Services
PHOENIX -- Attorney General Terry Goddard said he might be willing to consider legalizing marijuana if a way can be found to control its distribution -- and figure out who has been smoking it.
Goddard said marijuana sales make up 75 percent of the money that Mexican cartels use for the other operations, including smuggling other drugs and fighting the Army and police in that country. He said that makes fighting drug distribution here important to cut off that cash.
He acknowledged those profits could be slashed if possession of marijuana were not a crime in Arizona. But Goddard said a number of other hurdles remain before that even becomes a possibility.
Goddard's comments came following a news conference announcing the breakup of a major ring that police said has been responsible for bringing about 400,000 pounds of marijuana across the border and into Arizona each year since 2003.
The operation has so far led to the indictment of 59 people and the arrest so far of 39 of them, some in this country legally and others who were not.
Phoenix Police Lt. Vince Piano said the operation was very sophisticated, complete with specially designed heavy-duty trucks to actually let vehicles drive over the border fence.
They also had solar-powered radio towers and a network of lookouts who told the trucks, each carrying up to 2,500 pounds of marijuana, when to move and when to hide under camouflage. He said there even was a system of "food drops' to supply the drivers.
Piano said this operation was one of several under contract to Mexican drug lords to transport the marijuana from the border through the Tohono O'odham Reservation all the way to Phoenix.
Piano said busting this organization doesn't stop the flow of drugs, saying this is one of several "transportation groups' working with the cartel. But he said it does disrupt at least part of the flow.
The issue of Arizona drug laws came up during questions about the operation of drug cartels and the violence associated with their operations, particularly in the Mexican state of Sinaloa.
"The key is, they will no longer exist when people don't buy marijuana,' said Matthew Allen, special agent in charge of the office of investigations for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. "This is a market-driven economy and this is a market-driven activity.'
Allen said the question of legalization to eliminate those profits is a policy question.
"But if we're going to go down that road, what is the acceptable amount of marijuana that you want a bus driver to have in their system,' he continued.
"I believe it's zero,' Goddard said later.
Goddard said there is a lot of time and money spent on enforcement activities like the one that resulted in the bust announced Tuesday. He said that requires "a hard look' at the issue.
But Goddard said it's not as simple as simply declaring it legal.
He said there would need to be some controls on who gets the drugs -- and how much they use.
"Right now I've not found, and do not know of, a way to make a prescription control over marijuana as a consumer product,' Goddard said. "As long as we can't do that, as long as we can't put it behind the counter and in a safe distribution, I don't believe there's any way to make it legal.'
Goddard said no one has found a way to put the kind of controls on marijuana he would want before he would consider legalizing it.
"If they could do that, we could certainly cut the legs out of some of these criminal activities,' he continued. "But until they do, we're going to have to continue to go after the folks that are moving marijuana and are thereby funding violent crimes throughout the hemisphere.'
Allen backed up Goddard's statements that the smuggling operation is not simply about marijuana.
He said Mexican cartels also are in the business of smuggling cocaine and other drugs on behalf of other cartels in places like Columbia. He said they make up the money they lose when those drugs are seized through the profits they make selling marijuana in the United States.
Reader Comments
Posted: Monday, December 29, 2008
Article comment by:
Carol
There is no control over marijuana access. Any kid (like any adult) that wants marijuana can get it with very little risk of getting arrested. Thanks to tobacco regulation, cigarette use ranks third behind marijuana and alcohol use in many school districts across the country.
Posted: Monday, December 29, 2008
Article comment by:
No name provided
Sir, you don't need to reinvent the wheel on this. The answer is right there before of us, and has been for the last seventy-five years.
Control marijuana with the SAME LAWS we use for alcohol. License reputable businesses to produce and sell marijuana to adults in attractive, legal and safe establishments. That will deny the drug dealers and Cartels a customer base and will very rapidly force them out of the market. No cash flow to protect will mean an end to the murders and horrific dismemberments.
Posted: Sunday, December 28, 2008
Article comment by:
Joshua
Personally, I am just amazed and happy that a politician even said this and is willing to discuss it.
I am pleasantly surprised with the subject, not so much the answers, but usually we can't even discuss the subject with our leaders.
Posted: Sunday, December 28, 2008
Article comment by:
No name provided
What a joke. Hmm...there seems to be a mass confusion over controlling distribution. Let me clear up all the confusion. Someone needs to take terry goddard to amsterdam. They have controlled distribution for the last 30 years with little problem. ITS NOT THAT COMPLICATED.
Posted: Saturday, December 27, 2008
Article comment by:
LW
"The inability to measure how impaired someone is who uses marijuana is a key reason it has to be kept illegal here."
Hogwash! What does this have to do with legalization? Was there a way to measure impairment back when alcohol prohibition ended?
Easy, tax it, and sell it in a controlled environment just like alcohol. End of discussion.
Posted: Saturday, December 27, 2008
Article comment by:
Johnny Appleseed
Marijuana is a plant and it grows in the wild in just about every country in the world. How are you ever going to regulate a plant (especially when there is an underground movement made up of users that scatter the seeds they get from each bag of cannabis they consume)? If you want to stop the Mexican cartels from getting paid, you have to legalize it. Also, the bus driver comment is ignorant and shows that much more research is needed in what "acceptable" levels would be for a drug that can be measured for up to a month after ingestion (and a month after the psychoactive effects have abated).
Posted: Saturday, December 27, 2008
Article comment by:
Dan
"Right now I've not found, and do not know of, a way to make a prescription control over marijuana as a consumer product,' Goddard said. "As long as we can't do that, as long as we can't put it behind the counter and in a safe distribution, I don't believe there's any way to make it legal.'
They haven't found a way to make the profits THEMSELVES yet.
Got it.
-Dan
