Pubdate: Mon, 24 Sep 2012
Source: Scribe, The (US CO Edu)
Copyright: 2012 The Scribe
Contact:  http://www.uccsscribe.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/5359
Author: Robert Sharpe
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v12/n451/a05.html

Regarding "War on drugs wages pointless battles, needs reform," the
Sep. 10 op-ed, if health outcomes determined drug laws instead of
cultural norms, marijuana would be legal and there would be no medical
marijuana debate.

According to drugwarfacts.com, marijuana has never been shown to cause
an overdose death, nor does it share the addictive properties of tobacco.

Marijuana can be harmful if abused, but jail cells are inappropriate
as health interventions and ineffective as deterrents.

According to the Schaffer Library of Drug Policy, the first marijuana
laws were enacted in response to Mexican immigration during the early
1900s, despite opposition from the American Medical Association.

Dire warnings that marijuana inspires homicidal rages have been
counterproductive. White Americans did not even begin to smoke pot
until a soon-to-be entrenched federal bureaucracy began funding reefer
madness propaganda.

Marijuana prohibition has failed miserably as a deterrent. The U.S.
has higher rates of marijuana use than the Netherlands, where
marijuana is legally available to adults.

The only clear winners in the war on marijuana are drug cartels and
shameless tough-on-drugs politicians who've built careers out of
confusing the drug war's collateral damage with a relatively harmless
plant.

Students who want to help reform harmful drug laws should contact
Students for Sensible Drug Policy at schoolsnotprisons.com.

Sincerely,

Robert Sharpe, MPA

Policy Analyst

Common Sense for Drug Policy

csdp.org
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MAP posted-by: Matt