Pubdate: Sat, 30 Apr 2005
Source: Providence Journal, The (RI)
http://www.projo.com/opinion/letters/content/projo_20050430_30lesh.1d6add7.html
Copyright: 2005 The Providence Journal Company
Contact:  http://www.projo.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/352
Author: Robert Sharpe
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/prison.htm (Incarceration)
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n664/a07.html

IRRATIONAL PREJUDICE AGAINST MARIJUANA

Rob Kampia is to be commended for exposing the absurdity of the U.S. 
government's irrational prohibition of marijuana ("Medical marijuana works 
in Canada," Commentary April 24).

Diet is the No. 1 determinant of health. Do we really want big government 
monitoring everything that goes into our bodies? And if it is the proper 
role of government to punish citizens for unhealthy choices, why target 
medical-marijuana patients? Unlike alcohol, marijuana has never been shown 
to cause an overdose death, nor does it share the addictive properties of 
nicotine.

Unfortunately, marijuana represents the '60s counterculture to 
reactionaries in Congress intent on forcibly imposing their version of 
morality. The United States now has the highest incarceration rate in the 
world, in large part because of the war on some drugs. At an average cost 
of $26,134 per inmate annually, maintaining the world's largest prison 
system can hardly be considered fiscally conservative. This country cannot 
afford to continue subsidizing the prejudices of culture warriors.

ROBERT SHARPE Washington, D.C. The writer is policy analyst for Common 
Sense for Drug Policy.