Pubdate: Sat, 01 Jun 2013
Source: Manawatu Standard (New Zealand)
Copyright: 2013 Manawatu Evening Standard
Contact:  http://www.stuff.co.nz/manawatu-standard/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1057
Author: Robert Sharpe
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v13/n226/a07.html

CRIMINAL RECORDS WEAK DRUG DETERRENT

Regarding Matthew Dallas' May 25 editorial, if health outcomes 
determined drug laws instead of Anglo cultural norms, cannabis would 
be legal. Unlike alcohol, cannabis has never been shown to cause an 
overdose death, nor does it share the addictive properties of 
tobacco. Cannabis can be harmful, but criminal records are 
inappropriate as health interventions and ineffective as deterrents.

Consider the experience of the former land of the free. Here in the 
United States, police searches on public transit, drug-sniffing dogs 
in schools and random drug testing have led to a loss of civil 
liberties, while failing at preventing cannabis use. The United 
States has higher rates of cannabis use than the Netherlands, where 
cannabis is legally available.

Failure has not stopped the US from using its superpower status to 
export a harmful moral crusade around the globe. The criminalisation 
of citizens who prefer marijuana to martinis has no basis in science. 
The health effects of cannabis are inconsequential compared to the 
effects of criminal records.

ROBERT SHARPE Policy analyst, Common Sense for Drug Policy Washington DC
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom