#Louisiana legislators, other elected officials need to come to terms with legalizing pot: Paul Armentano

By Contributing Op-Ed columnist

The public is ready to engage in a serious discussion regarding marijuana policy. It’s unfortunate that their elected officials are not. The recent defeat of House Bill 103 on the Louisiana Senate floor epitomizes this divide between public sentiment and political action. Senators narrowly voted down this moderate reform measure, which sought to lessen criminal sentences for marijuana possession convictions from five years in jail to two (for second offenders) and from 20 years in jail to five (for third-time offenders).

The reasoning? According to NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune, the bill’s opponents alleged that reducing the possibility of such double-digit sentences somehow sends “the wrong message that it’s OK to smoke marijuana in Louisiana.” (Do these same legislators believe that ticketing and fining — rather than imprisoning — those who exceed the speed limit or fail to come to a complete stop while making a right turn is similarly sending the message that reckless driving is “OK?” Obviously, the answer is “no.”)

Further, prior to voting down the measure, several senators in the chamber could be heard “inhaling and exhaling,” according to media reports. Others chuckled and rolled their eyes.

While such juvenile behavior might be expected in the halls of junior high schools across America, we should expect better from our elected officials. Yet lawmakers’ schizophrenic attitude toward pot and the public policies that punish the plant’s users are, unfortunately, par for the course.

Read more:  http://www.nola.com/