Pubdate: Thu, 25 Nov 2010 Source: Daily Breeze (Torrance, CA) Copyright: 2010 Los Angeles Newspaper group Contact: http://www.dailybreeze.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/881 Author: Robert Sharpe RETHINKING THE DRUG WAR If the goal of marijuana prohibition is to subsidize Mexican drug cartels, prohibition is a success. The drug war distorts supply-and-demand dynamics so that big money grows on little trees. There is a reason you don't see drug cartels sneaking into national forests to cultivate tomatoes and cucumbers. They cannot compete with legitimate farmers. If the goal of marijuana prohibition is to deter use, prohibition is a failure. The United States has double the rate of use as the Netherlands, where marijuana is legally available. Spain legalized cultivation for personal use and has lower rates of use. Portugal decriminalized all drugs and still has lower rates of marijuana use than the U.S. Thanks to public education, tobacco use has declined, without any need to criminalize smokers. The drop in highly addictive tobacco use has occurred despite widespread tobacco availability. The only winners in the war on marijuana are drug cartels and shameless politicians who confuse drug prohibitions collateral damage with a plant. - - Robert Sharpe, Washington, D.C. The writer is policy analyst for Common Sense for Drug Policy - --- MAP posted-by: Matt