Pubdate: Mon, 24 Mar 2014
Source: Foster's Daily Democrat (Dover, NH)
Copyright: 2014 Geo. J. Foster Co.
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/mYsCsdPU
Website: http://www.fosters.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/160
Author: Robert Sharpe
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v14/n253/a02.html

THOUGHTFUL

To the editor: Regarding Ethan Gauvin's thoughtful March 16 op-ed, 
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 supply and demand dynamics so that big money grows 
on little trees.

If the goal of marijuana prohibition is to deter use, prohibition is 
a catastrophic failure. The United States has almost double the rate 
of use as the Netherlands where marijuana is legally available. 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. This 
country can no longer afford to subsidize the prejudices of culture warriors.

Not just in Colorado and Washington state but throughout the nation, 
it's time to stop the pointless arrests and instead tax legal marijuana.

Robert Sharpe, MPA Policy Analyst Common Sense for Drug Policy 
www.csdp.org Washington, D.C.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom