Editing 77-20-A1 (section)

=== Transcript ===
Washington has given voice to the idea that criminal sanctions for possession of
small amounts of marijuana should be lifted. I’ll be right back.

A recent editorial in a metropolitan paper approved the a statement emanating
from Washington about removing Federal criminal sanctions for possession of
small amounts, of marijuana. The editorial writer said, “Experience so far shows
no significant increase in marijuana use or abuse.”

This was too much for Daryl F. Gates, Assistant Chief, Director of Operations, Los
Angeles Police Department, one of the finest finest police forces in all the cities
of the world. Chief Gates took pen in
hand and wrote a letter to the editor.<SUP>1</SUP> He asked, “What experience?”

Not too long ago California, had a pretty sound law that gave a judge flexibility
to reduce a felony conviction to a misdemeanor in cases such as the youthful
experimenter. There were also provisions to allow users to choose
attending a treatment center with no filing of an arrest record. The people of
California overwhelmingly voted down a repudiated a ballot measure to
decriminalize marijuana. But on Jan. 1, 1976 a new law went into effect
reducing penalties for marijuana possession to about the level of a traffic ticket.

Chief Gates in his letter to the editor said that prior to the new law
in 1975 seizure of marijuana was totaled 4900 lbs. which gives some measurement of probable use.
When the relaxed law went into effect confiscation of the drug jumped to almost
18,000 lbs. In addition he said the marijuana was also of the more exotic
type containing a much higher percentage of THC the intoxicating agent.
Alarmingly the departments juvenile division, narcotic section experienced an
almost 50% increase in juvenile arrests for possession or use of marijuana in
1976 and so far in ’77 an additional 20% increase.

The Chief Gates wrote, “This apparent trend of increased usage by children
was also evident in a recent study in San Mateo County” and he
added that “the age of the user became progressively lower as the law became
weaker.”

Summing it up his letter read; “This evidence indicates that when the Legislature
reduced the penalties for marijuana use and possession there was a
marked increase in marijuana importation and in its use among our young
people.

Marijuana trafficking is a lucrative business, and one can only conclude
that it’s possession and use are encouraged when the legislature continues to
deemphasize the criminal consequences. The end result,” he says, “of such
legislative leniency is that the traffickers of this intoxicating drug are virtually
free to drain the vitality from our youth and our society with the approval of
our legislative representatives.”

I hope the editorial writer also reads letters to the editor.

This is Ronald Reagan.

Thanks for listening.


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