Pubdate: Thu, 09 Feb 2012
Source: Express-Times, The (PA)
Copyright: 2012 The Express-Times
Contact: http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/opinion/sendaletter/
Website: http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/expresstimes/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1489
Author: Robert Sharpe
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v12/n100/a06.html

'WAR ON DRUGS' PROMOTES CRIME

Regarding your Feb. 3 editorial ("N.J. dawdling on medical 
marijuana"), not only should medical marijuana be made available to 
patients in need, but adult recreational use should be regulated. 
Drug policies modeled after alcohol prohibition have given rise to a 
youth-oriented black market. Illegal drug dealers don't check IDs for 
age, but they do recruit minors immune to adult sentences. So much 
for protecting the children.

Throwing more money at the problem is no solution. Attempts to limit 
the supply of illegal drugs while demand remains constant only 
increase the profitability of drug trafficking. For addictive drugs 
such as heroin, a spike in street prices leads desperate addicts to 
increase criminal activity to feed desperate habits. The drug war 
doesn't fight crime, it fuels crime.

Taxing and regulating marijuana, the most popular illicit drug, is a 
cost-effective alternative to never-ending drug war. As long as 
marijuana distribution is controlled by organized crime, consumers 
will continue to come into contact with hard drugs like 
methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin. This "gateway" is a direct 
result of marijuana prohibition.

ROBERT SHARPE Policy Analyst Common Sense for Drug Policy Washington, D.C.
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