Pubdate: Mon, 22 Jan 2001
Source: Richmond Times-Dispatch (VA)
Copyright: 2001 Richmond Newspapers Inc.
Contact:  P.O. Box 85333, Richmond, VA 23293
Fax: (804) 775-8072
Feedback: http://www.gatewayva.com/feedback/totheeditor.shtml
Website: http://www.timesdispatch.com/
Author: Robert Sharpe, http://www.mapinc.org/authors/sharpe+robert
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n081/a05.html

DRUG POLICIES ENCOURAGE FAILURE

Editor, Times-Dispatch: Regarding the January 15 article on the additional
$250,000 budgeted to fight methamphetamine production in Virginia: There are
cost-effective alternatives to the never-ending drug war. Our tax dollars
are fueling crime. When supply of illegal drugs is successfully limited
while demand remains constant, drug trafficking becomes more profitable. The
obscene profits to be made guarantee replacement dealers. For addictive
drugs like meth, a temporary drop in supply leads to higher street prices,
which means desperate addicts increase criminal activity to feed desperate
habits. Those who get caught are placed in prisons that serve to transmit
violent habits rather than reduce them. Children are especially vulnerable.
With no controls for age, the black market is very much youth-oriented.
Unlike legitimate businesses that sell liquor, illegal drug dealers do not
ID for age, but they do push profitable, addictive drugs like meth when
given the chance. Sensible regulation is desperately needed to undermine the
black market and restrict access to drugs.

Marijuana is the most popular illicit drug. Compared to legal alcohol,
marijuana is relatively harmless. Yet marijuana prohibition is deadly.
Although there is nothing inherent in marijuana that compels users to try
drugs like meth, its black-market status puts users in contact with
criminals who push them. The "gateway" status ascribed to marijuana is a
direct result of current drug policy. As counterintuitive as it may seem,
replacing marijuana prohibition with regulation would do a better job
protecting children than the failed drug war.

Robert Sharpe. Washington, D.C.
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MAP posted-by: Don Beck