Pubdate: Fri, 19 Sep 2008 Source: USA Today (US) Copyright: 2008 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc Contact: http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/index.htm Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/466 Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v08/n856/a06.html Author: Aaron Houston OUTDOOR ERADICATION FAILS TO CURB MARIJUANA USA TODAY's article on illegal marijuana growing on public lands completely ignored the consensus among experts that outdoor "eradication" efforts do little, if anything, to hinder the supply of this drug ("80% of pot crop invades parkland," News, Sept. 12). The Justice Department's own National Drug Threat Assessment 2008 said the main effect of such raids isn't eradication but causes "major marijuana producers ... to relocate indoors," namely to suburban neighborhoods where their activities go unnoticed. More important, the article failed to note that marijuana's prohibition is the true cause of these dangerous and irresponsible criminal activities. Marijuana is by far the most widely used illicit drug in the country. At $36 billion a year, it's the largest cash crop of the USA. For better or for worse, a fortune can be made on marijuana, and somebody is going to capitalize on that. Prohibition ensures that those profits go to violent gangs, and we give up any opportunity we might have had to control and regulate that market responsibly, as we do with alcohol and tobacco. If drug warriors such as John Walters, the director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, really wish to prevent criminals from raping our public lands, then they should support taxing and regulating marijuana, as we do alcohol and tobacco. After all, when was the last time you heard about a clandestine tobacco farm in Sequoia National Aaron Houston Director of Government Relations Marijuana Policy Project Washington - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake