Pubdate: Mon, 12 Aug 2013
Source: Record, The (Stockton, CA)
Copyright: 2013 The Record
Contact: http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=A_OPINION05
Website: http://www.recordnet.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/428
Author: Robert Sharpe
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v13/n381/a03.html

POT DISPENSARIES DISCOURAGE CRIME

Regarding your Aug. 5 editorial, "Dispense with dispensaries," not 
only should medical marijuana be made available to patients in need, 
but adult recreational use should be regulated.

Drug policies modeled after alcohol prohibition have given rise to a 
youth-oriented black market. Illegal drug dealers don't ID for age, 
but they do recruit minors immune to adult sentences.

Throwing more money at the problem is no solution. Attempts to limit 
the supply of illegal drugs while demand remains constant only 
increases the profitability of drug trafficking. For addictive drugs 
like heroin, a spike in street prices leads desperate addicts to 
increase criminal activity to feed desperate habits. The drug war 
doesn't fight crime, it fuels crime.

Taxing and regulating marijuana, the most popular illicit drug, is a 
cost-effective alternative to the never-ending drug war. As long as 
marijuana distribution is controlled by organized crime, consumers 
will continue to come into contact with hard drugs like 
methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin. Marijuana prohibition is a 
gateway drug policy.

Robert Sharpe

Policy analyst, Common Sense for Drug Policy, Washington, D.C.
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