Madison NORML

Many of these accidents are preventable. Everyone reacts differently to the effects of alcohol, and many people cannot tolerate it. In the early days of the Mifflin Street block parties, the use of marijuana was more prevalent than alcohol. Between the pot brownies and numerous joints, the party was more peaceful and safer. Marijuana prohibition forces people to turn to more harmful substances like alcohol, oxycontin, cocaine and meth, causing untold harms to the individual and society.

Twenty-eight years ago Madison voters passed Ordinance 23.20, legalizing both private possession and medical use of marijuana in the city. The daily torrent of alcohol related mayhem points to the need for harm reduction, like tolerating possession and sales of marijuana in coffeeshops, as the Netherlands has done since 1976.

Last November, Oakland California voters, by a two to one margin, passed Measure Z, directing city officials to deprioritize marijuana possession, cultivation and sales offenses and lobby the state legislature to make changes in state law that would allow Oakland to implement the measure. This implementation would be to establish licensing and regulation for outlets where cannabis would be sold and consumed.

Madison should consider a similar measure. Not only would regulation keep marijuana out of the hands of youth, but it would make Madison safer by reducing the use of alcohol and ending the current and sometimes violent black market.

Madison's problems with alcohol will not get better until city officials have the courage to explore options that would reduce the harm. Not only would regulation accomplish that, but it would also provide a means of safe and legal access for the city's growing population of patients using cannabis for medical purposes.

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Storck, Madison, is a co-founder of Madison NORML (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws).