Pubdate: Sun, 02 Dec 2012 Source: Dallas Morning News (TX) Copyright: 2012 The Dallas Morning News, Inc. Contact: http://www.dallasnews.com/cgi-bin/lettertoed.cgi Website: http://www.dallasnews.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/117 Author: Robert Sharpe PROHIBITION HAS FAILED The voters of Colorado and Washington state have made it clear the federal government can no longer get away with confusing the drug war's collateral damage with a comparatively harmless plant. If the goal of marijuana prohibition is to subsidize violent drug cartels, prohibition is a success. The drug war distorts supply and demand dynamics so that big money grows on little trees. If the goal of marijuana prohibition is to deter use, prohibition is a failure. The United States has double the rate of marijuana use as the Netherlands, where marijuana is legal. The criminalization of Americans who prefer marijuana to martinis has no basis in science. The war on marijuana consumers is a failed cultural inquisition, not an evidence-based public health campaign. As a nation, we face a looming fiscal cliff. It's time to stop the pointless arrests and instead tax legal marijuana. Robert Sharpe, Policy Analyst, Common Sense for Drug Policy, Washington, D.C. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom