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By Sal Osio, JD

From the Publisher's Corne

June 8, 2010

Mi Punto de Vista

California Delivers Crippling Blow to Street Gangs

 By Sal Osio, JD

 The above victory cry will resonate throughout California, assuming of course that Californians vote to decriminalize marijuana. The passage of the ballot measure - Regulate, Control, and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010  -  this November will extinguish the economic life line that sustains illegal gang activity throughout California.

.Street gangs are the scourge of society. Gang members surrender their individual conscience to the collective immoral dicta of the gang. Theft, battery, burglary, rape and murder are the everyday atrocities that victimize primarily the minority communities in our state. The barrios live in the constant fear and threat of gang activity and retribution for seeking legal recourse.

 Local residents and law enforcement are helpless in the fight against the gangs due to their economic ability to sustain their clandestine activities. Gangs are the ‘retail’ distribution network of illegal drugs. Drugs are the financial lifeline of the gangs.

 Marijuana, by far, is the most popular stimulant sought by drug users. It is also the staple item of the street gang distributor He uses marijuana as his door opener for the distribution of crack and other addictive narcotics. If the distributor doesn't offer marijuana, he lacks an indispensable product in his inventory. He is like the food retailer who lacks ‘bread and butter.’ In short, without marijuana, the distributor is doomed to failure.

 Proponents of the legalization and regulation of marijuana claim, correctly so, that we will reduce our prison/jail population by almost one-half realizing a mega billion dollar in savings in the combined economy of scale: Less law enforcement personnel, less judges, less prosecutors and public defenders, less financial assistance to the families of the addicted, and, of course, less detention centers and guards. Proponents of legalization point to the Prohibition and the rise in crime and gangsters. They point to the trillion dollars so far spent in a losing effort on the War on Drugs. They point to the residual damage to our Mexican neighbor. But, in my opinion, the greatest and most immediate benefit is the crippling blow to our street gangs.

 The street gang is all about power. Power based on physical prowess. But, more important, power based on economic resources. The ‘exclusive’ territories of the gang distributors are very profitable and the glue that sustains the gang’s appeal to its members. The economic benefits to the members include rewards for their loyalty, spending money for cars and accessories, affordability of consumer household goods and clothing, and economic sustenance for their families. These are economic benefits that in the absence of gang affiliation they would have to do without. The alternative is work. And work means no dependency on gangs and limited time, if any, for gang activities.

 Almost universally we agree that narcotics distributors, not the users, not the addicts, are the real criminals. Also, history and our recent national experience, the Prohibition, conclusively established that we cannot extinguish consumption by legal fiat. Americans will continue to smoke marijuana whether we legalize it or not. So why not apply sanctions against the real culprit, the distributor, the profiteer, by taking away his lifeline? In doing so, we cripple the gangs by diminishing their power. We accomplish this by decriminalizing drugs and regulating their distribution and policing their use.

 The principal opponents to the legalization of marijuana, California’s November ballot measure, as expected, are the drug traffickers, including the street gangs - the local and regional distributors. Their opposition to decriminalization is financially funneled through well meaning citizens whose ignorance of the ramifications of the proposed law is based on the fear of drug related crime. These groups are mostly social conservative ‘law and order’ church and political committees unaware of the funding of their opposition by these criminal elements. If they became aware that a vote for legalization and regulation of marijuana is vote for the extinction of street gangs, the measure would pass by an overwhelming majority. Our challenge is to educate our neighbors.

 Hopefully, following the November election, we will all shout the victory chant in California.

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Sal Osio is the Publisher of HispanicVista,.com. He can be reached at SPOsio@aol.com