Pubdate: Fri, 15 Jan 2010
Source: DrugSense Weekly (DSW)
Website: http://www.drugsense.org

LETTER OF THE WEEK

LEGALIZING MARIJUANA THE BEST OPTION

By Wayne Phillips

This is in regard to Worth Richardson's column Wednesday, "The war on 
drugs is not working; a new approach is needed."

Richardson succinctly hits the proverbial nail on the head when he 
states, "It seems pretty clear America's war on drugs is very 
inefficient and not working."

"We need, and I use the word 'all out war,' on all fronts," was 
Richard Nixon's reaction to his national commission's recommendation 
that marijuana no longer be a criminal offense, according to Nixon's 
Oval Office tapes. The year after Nixon's "all out war" on marijuana, 
arrests jumped by over 100,000.

The Nixon White House tapes from 1971-72 demonstrate that the 
foundation of the modern war on marijuana was based on Nixonian 
prejudice, culture war and misinformation.

The one fundamental difference that has changed dramatically is that 
today's users are starting at a considerably younger age. This trend 
began escalating correspondingly with Nixon's intensification of 
marijuana prohibition as enforced by the then newly formed DEA (1973).

In 2005, the DEA seized a reported $1.4 billion in drug trade-related 
assets and $477 million worth of drugs.  However, according to the 
White House's Office of Drug Control Policy, the total value of all 
of the drugs sold in the U.S. is as much as $64 billion a year, 
making the DEA's efforts to intercept the flow of drugs into and 
within the U.S.  less than 1 percent effective.

The notion of losing the war on drugs is only troubling (for some) 
until it is realized that waging this "war" is, in effect, 
allowing/giving de facto control of substances deemed illicit to 
whosoever amasses the wherewithal by whatever means necessary to 
produce and/or supply the demand for those substances -- just like 
when alcohol prohibition ruled the day circa 1920 to 1933.

After several years, alcohol prohibition became a failure in North 
America and elsewhere, as smuggling and bootlegging (rum-running) 
became widespread and organized crime took control of the 
distribution of alcohol.

As an article in the Wall Street Journal stated, "the biggest step 
against Mexican cartels would be to simply legalize their main 
product: marijuana, a cash crop that accounts for over half of their revenue."

Legalize, regulate, tax/licence and educate about cannabis marijuana; 
it's the only feasible alternative remaining.

Wayne Phillips, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

Pubdate: Tue, 5 Jan 2010

Source: Culpeper Star-Exponent (VA)

Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v10/n007/a06.html 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake