Pubdate: Tue, 23 Apr 2013
Source: Summit Daily News (CO)
Copyright: 2013 Summit Daily News
Contact: http://apps.summitdaily.com/forms/letter/index.php
Website: http://www.summitdaily.com/home.php
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/587
Author: Robert Sharpe
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v13/n169/a04.html

COLORADO LEADS THE WEED WAY

Regarding John Young's April 18 column, the people of Colorado are 
way ahead of the politicians in Washington, DC. The days when our 
federal government can get away with deliberately confusing the drug 
war's tremendous collateral damage with a comparatively harmless 
plant are coming to an end. If the goal of marijuana prohibition is 
to subsidize violent drug cartels, prohibition is a grand success. 
The drug war distorts supply and demand dynamics so that big money 
grows on little trees. If the goal of prohibition is to deter use, 
marijuana prohibition is a catastrophic 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. This country can no longer afford to 
subsidize the prejudices of culture warriors. Not just in Colorado 
but throughout the nation, it's time to stop the pointless arrests 
and instead tax legal marijuana.

Robert Sharpe, Arlington, Virginia
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom