Washington and Oregon started regulating marijuana in 1923. Ninety years later, Washington backed away from treating the plant as an illegal drug. There are indications Oregon will follow suit.

In a major news story published Nov. 18, The New Yorkers Patrick Radden Keefe embarks on a thorough look at how legalization is proceeding so far in our northern neighbor. He concludes, Washington state discovers that its not so easy to create a legal marijuana economy.

This statement perhaps overstates Washingtons goal, which probably could be better stated to be legalizing marijuana in a framework that produces ample tax money, replaces the previous black market and doesnt increase marijuana use in the state or outside its borders. But this more-complex mission statement wouldnt fit in a story headline.

In general, Keefes article is a useful effort to digest the difficulties of two states the other being Colorado moving forward with ending long-term prohibition of the drug, while the federal government and other states continue to prosecute users and sellers with varying degrees of zeal.

Some especially apt observations from the story (paraphrased here):

Washingtons legalization campaign was able to correctly note that widespread availability of medical marijuana in the state starting in 1998 did not cause crime to increase. The streets were not filled with dazed potheads.

Washington is obliged to keep the price of marijuana fairly high, since a federal crackdown might result if cheap marijuana is seen to be flowing out of state.

But with taxes of 25 percent when the producer sells to the processor, 25 percent when the processor sells to the retailer and 35 percent when the retailer sells to the customer, an expert estimates an initial selling price of at least $42 for an eighth of an ounce. Meanwhile, a dealer in the Seattle area charges $28 for the same amount of locally grown black-market pot, or $20 for California pot. I assume a lot of people are still going to come to me, the dealer said.

A leading authority recommended an alternative tax scenario that starts low and rises as legal marijuana becomes less expensive to produce, so as to push illegal sellers out of business and then capitalize on improvements in legal growing techniques. The state rejected this approach, apparently hungry for estimated tax revenue of as much as $2 billion over the next five years.

There are many other complications. These include a wide divergence in opinions about legalization between the western and eastern halves of the state; difficulties banking any marijuana-related money in federally regulated banks; concerns about the health impacts of marijuana on adolescents; and the list goes on.

All this leads the key expert cited in the story to this conclusion: Hes pleased prohibition is ending, hopes legalization is a big success, but isnt optimistic. I think commercial production and sale of cannabis is going to end in tears.