Pubdate: Fri, 09 Aug 2013 Source: Sacramento Bee (CA) Copyright: 2013 The Sacramento Bee Contact: http://mapinc.org/url/0n4cG7L1 Website: http://www.sacbee.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/376 Author: Robert Sharpe Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v13/n379/a05.html LEGALIZE MARIJUANA Re "Environment is going to pot" (Dan Morain, Aug. 4): If marijuana were fully legal, there would be no backyard or back country growers cashing in on inflated marijuana prices. Legitimate farmers would produce it by the ton at a fraction of the current cost. There is a reason you don't see Mexican drug cartels sneaking into national forests to cultivate tomatoes and cucumbers. They cannot compete with a legal market. Marijuana prohibition is a complete failure. The United States has higher rates of marijuana use than the Netherlands, where marijuana is legally available to adults. The only clear winners in the war on marijuana are drug cartels and shameless tough-on-drugs politicians who've built careers confusing the drug war's collateral damage with a comparatively harmless plant. - -- Robert Sharpe, Common Sense for Drug Policy, Arlington, Vir. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom