Jul 27, 2018 3 min read

You can count Pennsylvania Auditor General Eugene DePasquale among those who think it’s time for the commonwealth to legalize, and profit from, recreational marijuana use.

Last week, DePasquale came to Pittsburgh to release a report centered on the fiscal benefits of legalization. He concluded, “conservatively,” that the state could reap close to $600 million a year by removing the legal ban on recreational use. According to a report in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the auditor general estimates about 800,000 Pennsylvania residents would use marijuana if it were made legal, generating more than $1.6 billion in annual revenue. He said the state could collect $581 million yearly through a 35 percent marijuana tax and the existing 6 percent state sales tax.

“Just think what good you could do with that,” said DePasquale, citing additional health insurance coverage for children and more money for early education programs as two possibilities.

According to the P-G, DePasquale based his findings on data from places in the United States where marijuana use has been decriminalized for several years. He noted in Colorado, California and Washington, the marijuana industry does billion-dollar business. That doesn’t include the impact from medical marijuana, which is legal in 30 states, including Pennsylvania. In all, nine states and the District of Columbia have legalized recreational marijuana use. Canada, too.

The profits the state could see from legalization are just one side of this golden coin. There also are many millions of dollars to be saved by putting an end to the truly foolish pursuit, prosecution and imprisonment of people for violating current marijuana laws. The so-called “war on drugs” has always been a losing proposition, and the war on marijuana is the most ridiculous aspect of it.

For one thing, it’s reasonable to question whether marijuana use might have fewer negative health and societal effects than booze, which is actually peddled by the state here in Pennsylvania.

Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto, who joined the auditor general at his news conference, said legalization also has a “personal side,” because criminal convictions for marijuana use can keep people from securing jobs and housing, the P-G reported.

DePasquale also pointed out in Pennsylvania, which is not typically mistaken for a progressive state, the populace is generally behind the idea of legalization. The auditor general cited polls showing 61 percent of those responding nationally and 56 percent responding in Pennsylvania back decriminalization.

DePasquale does not attempt to argue all the effects of legalization would be positive. Of course, smoking any substance is not good for a person’s health, and we don’t want people high on marijuana on our roads any more than we want drunks on the highways. Studies of how marijuana legalization has affected travel safety show mixed results. The P-G cited a 2017 analysis by the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety that found a modest increase in auto collision claims after legalization in Colorado, Oregon and Washington state, but another study that came out a short time later, published in the American Public Health Association journal, found the rates of fatalities in vehicle crashes in Colorado and Washington were little different from those in states that had not legalized marijuana use.

DePasquale said he has weighed all of the benefits of legalization against the negative effects, and it’s his belief the pros “significantly outweigh the cons.”

We would agree with that assessment.