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MARIJUANA NOT AMERICA'S BIGGEST PROBLEM

Dear Editor:

Regarding your March 22 editorial "Court ruling may limit 'Bong Hits for Jesus,'" alcohol kills more Americans each year than all illegal drugs combined.

Prescription overdose deaths are second only to motor-vehicle crashes as a cause of death from unintentional injury.

Television is filled with sophisticated pro-drug messages paid for by alcohol and pharmaceutical companies.

The Bush administration doesn't have a problem with corporate drug pushers.  But hoist a "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" banner at a high school rally in Alaska, and they will fight you all the way to the Supreme Court.

Unlike alcohol, marijuana has never been shown to cause an overdose death, nor does it share the addictive properties of tobacco.

Granted, the plant is often confused with the counterculture, which may explain why some people believe the war on marijuana is more important than the First Amendment.

To me at least, it is not clear how a nonsensical phrase like "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" merits limiting free speech.

Then again, the Bush administration's reefer madness obsession with marijuana has never made sense.

By raiding voter-approved medical marijuana dispensaries in California, the very same federal government that claims illicit drug use funds terrorism is forcing cancer and AIDS patients into the hands of street dealers.

So it's not just the Constitution that is expendable.

Apparently marijuana prohibition is more important than protecting the country from terrorism too.

Students who want to help end the intergenerational culture war otherwise known as the war on some drugs should contact Students for Sensible Drug Policy at www.SchoolsNotPrisons.com

Robert Sharpe, MPA

Policy Analyst

Common Sense for Drug Policy