Pubdate: Mon, 24 Feb 2014
Source: Times, The (Trenton, NJ)
Copyright: 2014 The Times
Contact:  http://www.nj.com/times/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/458
Author: Robert Sharpe
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v14/n124/a04.html

LEGAL MARIJUANA MAKES MORE SENSE

Regarding Ronald Fraser's guest op-ed "How America went to pot" (Feb. 
4), 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 the 
dynamics of supply and demand 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 almost 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 Colorado and Washington, but throughout the nation, it's 
time to stop the pointless arrests and instead tax legal marijuana.

- -- Robert Sharpe, MPA, Washington, D.C. The writer is policy analyst 
for Common Sense for Drug Policy.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom