Pubdate: Tue, 19 Apr 2011
Source: Honolulu Star-Advertiser (HI)
Contact: 
http://www.staradvertiser.com/info/Star-Advertiser_Letter_to_the_Editor.html
Copyright: 2011 Keith Brilhart
Website: http://www.staradvertiser.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/5154
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v11/n248/a08.html
Author: Keith Brilhart

POT PROHIBITION HAS BACKFIRED

Alan Shinn's organization, the Coalition for a Drug-Free Hawaii, 
believes in prohibition, an approach to drug control that has failed 
miserably ("Pot dispensaries not working in Colorado" Letters, 
Star-Advertiser, April 16).

He claims that "Colorado law enforcement reports the lack of 
controls, increased crime and violence and the lowered quality of 
life in neighborhoods with dispensaries are hardly worth the 
projected tax revenues."

That's what happens when you have a black market created by 
prohibition while trying to allow for medical use, and all the while 
having police and politicians (who've made careers on being 
anti-drug) resisting the voters' intent.

In tough times like these, people like Shinn should reexamine the 
impact of their beliefs and consider the waste and destruction their 
misguided policies have wrought on society. If they'd cooperate to 
find a way to minimize the negatives of drug use, this whole argument 
could be over, like the one over alcohol prohibition.

Keith Brilhart

Honolulu  
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake