Pubdate: Mon, 26 May 2014
Source: Topeka Capital-Journal (KS)
Copyright: 2014 The Topeka Capital-Journal
Contact:  http://cjonline.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/455
Author: Robert Sharpe

PROHIBITION ON MARIJUANA A FAILED INQUISITION

Part of the reason our federal government continues to treat 
marijuana like Kryptonite is the hiring criteria for federal jobs. 
Ignorance is a prerequisite for employment.

The emphasis on "drug-free" backgrounds ensures that those least 
knowledgeable about the effects and use of illegal drugs are charged 
with enforcing federal laws against them. Anyone who has actually 
smoked marijuana knows the plant is not nearly as dangerous (or 
exciting) as federal propaganda suggests.

The days when bureaucrats could get away with confusing the drug 
war's collateral damage with a comparatively harmless plant are over. 
If the goal of marijuana prohibition is to subsidize drug cartels, 
prohibition is a 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 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. 
It's time to stop the pointless arrests and instead tax legal marijuana.

ROBERT SHARPE, Washington, D.C.

Common Sense for Drug Policy
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom