Pubdate: Sat, 18 Jul 2015
Source: Washington Post (DC)
Copyright: 2015 The Washington Post Company
Contact:  http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/491
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v15/n384/a03.html
Author: Robert Sharpe

A CONSEQUENCE OF THE WAR ON POT

Regarding the July 12 editorial "Weeding out synthetic drugs" :

The use of so-called synthetic marijuana is an unintended side effect 
of the war on natural marijuana. Consumers are turning to potentially 
toxic drugs, made in China and sold as research chemicals before 
being repackaged as incense for retail sale in the United States. A 
punitive criminal justice system incentivizes use. These chemicals 
cannot be detected by standard drug tests. Some people use synthetic 
drugs to escape detection.

Cracking down on retail sales will drive users to the Internet, where 
dangerous synthetic highs are readily available. A better solution is 
to legalize retail marijuana sales and stop drug testing for marijuana.

Taxing and regulating marijuana would eliminate the demand for 
synthetics, provide consumers with a safer alternative to alcohol and 
close the gateway to hard drugs by taking marijuana distribution out 
of the hands of criminals. Marijuana may be relatively harmless, but 
marijuana prohibition is deadly.

Robert Sharpe, Arlington

The writer is policy analyst for Common Sense for Drug Policy.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom