Pubdate: Thu, 7 Oct 2010
Source: Pasadena Weekly (CA)
Copyright: 2010 Southland Publishing
Contact:  http://www.pasadenaweekly.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4323
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v10/n761/a08.html
Author: Robert Sharpe

WAR ON POT

The drug war is largely a war on marijuana smokers. 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 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 US 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 methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin. This
"gateway"  is a direct result of marijuana prohibition.

Ref: United Nations drug stats: unodc.org/,

Comparative analysis of US vs. Dutch rates of drug use:
drugwarfacts.org/thenethe.htm ,

Marijuana arrest stats: drugwarfacts.org/cms/node/53

Robert Sharpe, Policy Analyst, Common Sense for Drug Policy, Washinton, DC
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake