77-20-A1

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Pot

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.1 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.		Details Batch Number 77-20-A1 Production Date 09/27/1977 Book/Page RPtV-199 Audio Youtube? No
		Added Notes from the book: Editorial, “Of Pot and Punishment,” Los Angeles Times Sec. 2, p. 4, August 4, 1977. Gates’s letter was published on August 22, 1977 (Sec. 2, p. 6).