Pubdate: Thu, 12 Apr 2001
Source: Seattle Weekly (WA)
Copyright: 2001 Seattle Weekly
Contact:  http://www.seattleweekly.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/410
Author:  Robert Sharpe, M.P.A., Washington, D.C.
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n612/a10.html?18748

REEFER MADNESS

Lost in the medical marijuana debate [see "Spliffed," 4/5] is the 
ugly truth behind marijuana prohibition. If health outcomes 
determined drug laws instead of cultural norms, alcohol would be 
illegal and marijuana would not. Whites did not even begin smoking 
pot until a soon-to-be entrenched government bureaucracy began 
funding reefer madness propaganda. These days marijuana is confused 
with '60s counterculture by Americans who would like to turn the 
clock back to the 1950s. This intergenerational culture war does far 
more harm than marijuana. Drug dealers do not ID for age, making it 
easier for teenagers to buy illicit drugs than beer. As the most 
popular illicit drug, marijuana provides the black market contacts 
that introduce users to hard drugs like heroin. This "gateway" is the 
direct result of a fundamentally flawed policy. Given that marijuana 
is arguably safer than legal alcohol, it makes no sense to waste tax 
dollars on failed policies that finance organized crime and 
needlessly expose children to dangerous drugs. Drug policy reform may 
send the wrong message to children, but I like to think the children 
themselves are more important than the message. Opportunistic "tough 
on drugs" politicians no doubt feel otherwise.

Robert Sharpe, M.P.A.

Washington, D.C.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Josh Sutcliffe