Pubdate: Tue, 17 Sep 2013
Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (PA)
Copyright: 2013 PG Publishing Co., Inc.
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/pm4R4dI4
Website: http://www.post-gazette.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/341
Author: Robert Sharpe
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v13/n452/a07.html

DRUG POLICY FAILURE

Regarding your Sept. 3 editorial "Reefer Sanity," the Obama 
administration is to be commended for giving Washington state the 
green light to tax and regulate marijuana. There is absolutely no 
justification for the status quo. 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 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. Not just in Washington and Colorado but throughout the 
nation, it's time to stop the pointless arrests and instead tax legal 
marijuana.

ROBERT SHARPE

Policy Analyst

Common Sense for Drug Policy

Washington, D.C.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom