Pubdate: Fri, 22 Feb 2002 Source: Langley Advance (CN BC) Copyright: 2002 Lower Mainland Publishing Group Inc. Contact: http://www.langleyadvance.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1248 Authors: Robert Sharpe, Ann A. Gottesman, Brett Ginsburg Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n285/a01.html DRUGS: LAWS DO NOT DETER USE Dear Editor, Letter writer Frank G. Sterle, Jr. claims that taxing and regulating the sale of marijuana to adults would lead to increased use [Drugs: Legalization Around the Corner, Feb 16, Langley Advance News]. There is no evidence whatsoever that tough drug laws actually deter use. Consider the experience of Canada's southern neighbour, the former land of the free and current record-holder in citizens incarcerated. The steady rise in police searches on public transit, drug-sniffing dogs in schools, and the drug testing of bodily fluids in the U.S. have led to a significant loss of privacy, while failing miserably at preventing drug use. Based on findings that criminal records do more harm than marijuana, a majority of European Union countries have decriminalized pot. Despite draconian penalties and perhaps because of forbidden fruit appeal, lifetime use of marijuana is higher in the U.S. than any European country. Canada should Just Say No to the American Inquisition. Robert Sharpe, Drug Policy Alliance, Washington, DC - ---------------------------------------------------------------------- DRUGS: CONCLUSIONS MISGUIDED Dear Editor, Frank Sterle Jr.'s letter [Drugs: Legalization Around the Corner, Feb 16, Langley Advance News] was filled with misguided conclusions. He warns that legalizing marijuana will be disastrous, leading to increased consumption, especially among youth. The research he cites is contrary to and inconsistent with the findings of numerous large, widely accepted studies. First he states there was a "great increase in alcohol abuse following the abolishment of alcohol prohibition." According to the Bureau of Prohibition Statistics (1930) just the opposite was true. During prohibition, alcohol consumption first decreased slightly, but then increased to a level exceeding the level of consumption before and after prohibition. In addition, violent crime, and death and injury resulting from consuming contaminated "moonshine," increased during prohibition. To make matters worse, the police resources became thinly stretched due to the huge number of people being arrested and jailed for alcohol consumption, the government lost substantial revenue from alcohol tax, and the enormous black market profits brought unprecedented wealth and influence to mobsters. Sterle asserts that a permissive attitude toward cannabis use would result in increased use among youths. The evidence, however, shows that if cannabis were regulated it would actually be more difficult for underage kids to obtain the drug, because there would be virtually no black market to buy the drugs from. Right now it is easier for kids to buy marijuana and other, more harmful drugs such as heroin, than it is to buy alcohol. Merchants are pretty strict in enforcing the laws, but drug dealers do not care if the buyer is 16 or 86. Sterle does not realize that, when kids go to the black market to purchase marijuana, they are being exposed to and sometimes offered dangerous drugs like heroin and cocaine. With the black market put out of business, kids would not have the exposure to hard drugs that they do now. People who want to use cannabis now, can do so, and no amount of law enforcement has been able to keep cannabis out of the hands of those who seek it. Strict drug laws have created more damage to individuals, families, and society than the drugs themselves. This is the concept behind "Harm Reduction," and there has been a lot of evidence to show that harm reduction policies work better than policies that focus on enforcement and punishment. In European countries such as Holland, where treatment is emphasized and small amounts of drugs have been decriminalized, there is a lower rate of drug use among youth, less non-violent people incarcerated, and overall better health and fewer deaths resulting from drug use. Why do we not want to recognize the obvious? Current U.S. drug policy is a failure, resulting in higher levels of drug use, a prospering black market, and the erosion of our civil rights. Hopefully, one day we will look back at the "War on Drugs" and acknowledge the barbaric, inhumane, immature, and misguided beliefs responsible for U.S. drug policy, as well as the unjustified and unnecessary human suffering that ensued. Ann A. Gottesman, Van Nuys, California - ---------------------------------------------------------------------- DRUGS: NOBLE EXPERIMENT FAILED Dear Editor, Mr. Sterle [Drugs: Legalization Around the Corner, Feb 16 Letters to the Editor, Langley Advance News] points out the benefits of Prohibition in Canada and the United States without mentioning that this "noble experiment" lasted only about a decade, and was ended due to the extravagant profits made by gangsters and terrorists dealing in a black market product that has been in consistently high demand since Biblical times. He bases his assertion that marijuana use will rise on his own self-reported "pothead" youth. As a current (moderate) boozer, I know that I am glad that at no point now or since I became an adult and began drinking could the police kick in my door, arrest me, and take away my property simply because I induged in an after-work highball in my house. Brett Ginsburg, Atlanta, Georgia