Pubdate: Wed, 21 May 2014
Source: Eastern Arizona Courier (AZ)
Copyright: 2014 Eastern Arizona Courier
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/3qxecMIL
Website: http://www.eacourier.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1674
Author: Robert Sharpe
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v14/n442/a03.html

IT'S TIME TO MAKE RECREATIONAL MARIJUANA USE LEGAL

Regarding Jerrold Shouse's May 17 column ("Is anybody surprised?" 
Eastern Arizona Courier), not only should medical marijuana be made 
available to patients in need, but adult recreational use should be 
taxed and regulated.

The days when shameless 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 is to deter use, marijuana prohibition is a catastrophic failure.

The United States has almost double the rate of marijuana use as 
(compared to) 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, but 
(also) 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