Pubdate: Wed, 19 Jun 2013
Source: East Bay Express (CA)
Copyright: 2013 East Bay Express
Contact: http://posting.eastbayexpress.com/ebx/SubmitLetter/Page
Website: http://www.eastbayexpress.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1131
Author: Robert Sharpe
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v13/n247/a03.html

"Marijuana Lawmaking Recap," Legalization Nation, 6/5

LEGALIZE IT

The days when politicians can get away with 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 is to deter use, marijuana prohibition is a catastrophic
failure. The United States has double the rate of use as the
Netherlands, where marijuana is legally available. 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 seeking to impose their version of morality on the
rest of us. It's time to stop the arrests and instead tax legal marijuana.

Robert Sharpe

Policy Analyst, Common Sense for Drug Policy
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MAP posted-by: Matt