Pubdate: Mon, 30 Apr 2012 Source: Wall Street Journal (US) Copyright: 2012 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. Contact: http://www.wsj.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/487 Author: Robert Sharpe Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v12/n232/a01.html THE WAR ON DRUGS ITSELF IS CAUSING MOST OF THE DAMAGE The authors are wrong in claiming that drug legalization is an all or nothing approach that necessitates legalizing crack and heroin along with more widely used marijuana. The Dutch policy of de facto marijuana legalization is premised on a separation of hard and soft drug markets. The idea is that marijuana consumers won't come into contact with sellers of addictive hard drugs. Though current politics threaten restrictions on marijuana sales to tourists in the Netherlands, the policy has been successful. The explosion in use that drug warriors claim will follow legalization never materialized. Lifetime use of marijuana in the Netherlands is half that of the U.S. But heroin use in the U.S. is 3.5 times higher than heroin use in the Netherlands, where the average age of addicts is going up. The Dutch have effectively closed the gateway to hard drugs by regulating the retail sale of marijuana. Robert Sharpe Policy Analyst Common Sense for Drug Policy Washington - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom