Pubdate: Thu, 5 Nov 2009 Source: Trentonian, The (NJ) Copyright: 2009 The Trentonian Contact: http://www.trentonian.com Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1006 Author: Robert Sharpe POT MALARKEY The drug war is in large part a war on marijuana, by far the most popular illicit drug. In 2008, there were 847,863 marijuana arrests in the U.S., almost 90 percent for simple possession. At a time when state and local governments are laying off police, firefighters and teachers, this country continues to spend shrinking public resources criminalizing Americans who prefer marijuana to martinis. The end result of this ongoing culture war is not necessarily lower rates of use. The U.S. has higher rates of marijuana use than the Netherlands, where marijuana is legally available. An admitted former pot smoker, President Obama has thus far maintained the status quo rather than pursue change. Would Barack Obama be in White House right now if he had been convicted of a marijuana offense in his youth? Taxing and regulating marijuana would render the $40 billion drug war obsolete. As long as marijuana distribution is controlled by organized crime, consumers of the most popular illicit drug will come into contact with sellers of hard drugs like cocaine and heroin. This "gateway" is a direct result of marijuana prohibition. Robert Sharpe Arlington, Va. Mr. Sharpe is a policy analyst for the Washington, D.C.-based Common Sense for Drug Policy. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake