It’s time to legalize marijuana and reap its many benefits

Hawaii should not wait any longer to join the list of states that have legalized marijuana. There is simply too much at stake for us to allow our Legislature to peck away at this for five or 10 years without taking real action.

Hawaii was once an important exporting state. Many of us remember the period before the Green Harvest eradication program and other measures that ruined this business here. Law enforcement turned us into a net importer from California and paved the way for our meth-amphetamine problems. Public opinion has finally caught up to common sense on marijuana issues with political pressure applied to end the enforcement efforts on the Big Island.

But as the mainland market begins to open up to a legal system we find ourselves behind California. There illegal growers have spent the last 20 years developing new strains of quality product. With referendum allowed there, it is virtually certain that California will legalize in 2016. Our Legislature has just a couple of years to get us legal before they do and give our agriculture a chance to catch up in the vast market that is projected.

As late as 1989, Hawaii’s then-Attorney General Warren Price estimated the value of the crop here at $10 billion. What it might be worth in a couple of years if we legalize now can’t be predicted, but it will obviously add much to our rural area economies.

The Libertarian Party warns the Legislature not to get greedy with the potential tax revenue and add the sort of punitive taxes that some other states have done. A few billion dollars coming into the state will turn over many times and generate plenty of taxes under our existing tax code. Strangling an industry that can grow and generate income for us with "sin" taxes and pointless regulations is not in our interests. Nor does it appeal to the many in Hawaii who just want to enjoy this plant and be left alone. And this doesn’t even begin to get into the potential of industrial hemp or the benefits of a quality medical program.

Our country has often been the victim of fear campaigns. We have seen the McCarthy-era Red Scare, the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II, the doctrine of the domino effect of communism in South East Asia, and many others. How many times have we looked back in regret to actions taken when the politics of hate, fear and ignorance replaced common sense and good judgment? Now it’s time for the anti-marijuana fear campaign to go away.

The Libertarian Party has been advocating for the legalization of marijuana for 40 years. We are happy that our views have finally overcome the fear campaigns that have kept this plant illegal and harmed so many of our people. We have drafted legislation that will allow us to fix this problem now. Yet passing it through our timid Legislature may be difficult. Many legislators seem convinced that the best they can do is decriminalize small-time possession and ignore the problems that would remain from the various felonies on our books for growing and distribution. They need pushing from voters to get this done right and avoid delaying and half-measures. We hope you will stand with us and make your feelings known.

Tracy Ryan chairs the Libertarian Party of Hawaii.