Pubdate: Wed, 21 Jul 2010 Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (PA) Copyright: 2010 Robert Sharpe Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/pm4R4dI4 Website: http://www.post-gazette.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/341 Author: Robert Sharpe Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v10/n548/a01.html END THE WAR ON POT Regarding Tony Norman's July 13 column ("Legalized Pot? Like Getting Bonged in the Head"): The drug war is largely a war on marijuana smokers. In 2008, there were 847,863 marijuana arrests in the United States, 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 enormous 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 United States has higher rates of marijuana use than the Netherlands, where marijuana is legally available. Decriminalization is a long-overdue step in the right direction. Taxing and regulating marijuana would render the drug war obsolete. As long as organized crime controls distribution, marijuana consumers will come into contact with sellers of hard drugs like cocaine and heroin. This "gateway" is a direct result of marijuana prohibition. ROBERT SHARPE Washington, D.C. Policy Analyst, Common Sense for Drug Policy - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D