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
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom