Pubdate: Tue, 07 Jan 2014
Source: New York Times (NY)
Copyright: 2014 The New York Times Company
Contact: http://www.nytimes.com/ref/membercenter/help/lettertoeditor.html
Website: http://www.nytimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/298
Author: Tom Angell
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v14/n016/a02.html
Note: Third of five

IS LEGALIZING MARIJUANA A BAD THING?

To the Editor:

As a marijuana legalization advocate, I'm not going to argue with
David Brooks about whether marijuana is safe or harmful. No matter how
bad one thinks the drug is in and of itself, there's no question that
prohibiting it only increases the potential for harm.

Making marijuana illegal means its production and profits are in the
hands of criminals who often use violence to protect their market
share. There's no testing and labeling of street marijuana for potency
and purity.

And perhaps the worst consequence of prohibition is the saddling of
hundreds of thousands of people every year with criminal records that
can make it difficult to get a job and lead a productive life.

Mr. Brooks is surely happy that he didn't have to experience being
arrested for his admitted marijuana use, so it's unfortunate that he'd
want to subject others to life-damaging criminal records simply for
doing what he did.

TOM ANGELL

Washington, Jan. 3, 2014

The writer is chairman of Marijuana Majority.  
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D