Pubdate: Wed, 14 Nov 2012
Source: Calgary Herald (CN AB)
Copyright: 2012 Canwest Publishing Inc.
Contact: http://www2.canada.com/calgaryherald/letters.html
Website: http://www.calgaryherald.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/66
Author: Robert Sharpe

TIME TO LEGALIZE POT

Now that neighbouring Washington state and Colorado have legalized 
marijuana, Ottawa can no longer claim that Canada must uphold 
marijuana prohibition to maintain good U.S. relations.

In 2002, the Canadian Senate offered a common sense alternative to 
marijuana prohibition when the Special Committee on Illegal Drugs 
concluded that marijuana is relatively benign, prohibition 
contributes to organized crime, and law enforcement efforts have 
little impact on patterns of use.

Marijuana prohibition is a catastrophic failure and voters across 
North America know it. The United States has double the rate of 
marijuana use as 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 confusing the drug war's collateral damage with a 
relatively harmless plant.

Robert Sharpe, Washington, D.C.

Robert Sharpe is a policy analyst with Common Sense for Drug Policy
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