California decriminalizes pot possession

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Well done, Governator:

Citing the need to reduce spending on prosecution and courts, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a measure that makes marijuana possession an infraction, on par with traffic and littering tickets.

The Republican governor's unexpected support for the measure comes one month before voters decide whether to legalize adult recreational use of marijuana in California.

"In this time of drastic budget cuts, prosecutors, defense attorneys, law enforcement and the courts cannot afford to expend limited resources prosecuting a crime that carries the same punishment as a traffic ticket," wrote Schwarzenegger, who opposes Proposition 19, the marijuana initiative.

The law, which takes effect immediately, reduces possession of up to an ounce of marijuana -- enough for about 30 joints -- from a misdemeanor to an infraction. Already, marijuana possession was the only misdemeanor under California law that didn't allow for jail time.

It's certainly a move in the right direction, though ultimately the answer is to legalize pot, at least in terms of recreational use, as with Prop 19, not just decriminalize it.

There can still be rules around it, of course, just as there are around alcohol use and distribution, but it hardly makes sense to treat possession even as a legal infraction.

Don't get me wrong, I do worry about the extent to which other, harder drugs ought to be decriminalized or legalized, and I constantly go back and forth, drawing the lines at different places, but pot, to me, ought to be treated roughly as alcohol is.