Pubdate: Thu, 13 Dec 2001 Source: South Florida Sun Sentinel (FL) Copyright: 2001 Sun-Sentinel Co & South Florida Interactive, Inc Contact: http://www.sun-sentinel.com Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1326 Author: Robert Sharpe Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n2032/a10.html?2107 Note: Robert Sharpe Program Officer The Lindesmith Center-Drug Policy Foundation Washington, D.C. DECRIMINALIZE MARIJUANA The Dec. 6 article on the Boca Raton stockbroker who is suing Delta Air Lines for refusing to allow him on a plane with marijuana highlights the hypocrisy of the federal government's stance on medical marijuana. While federal agents are busy raiding medical marijuana clubs in California, a Boca Raton man and six other patients receive marijuana grown by the federal government. The patients fortunate enough to enter the government's Compassionate Use Program before drug war bureaucrats shut it down don't have to worry about marijuana's worst side effect: jail. Not only should marijuana be made available to patients in need, but adult recreational use should be taxed and regulated as well. There is a big difference between condoning marijuana use and protecting children from drugs. What's needed is a regulated market with enforceable age controls. Right now kids have an easier time buying pot than beer. More disturbing is the manner in which marijuana's black market status exposes users to sellers of hard drugs. Marijuana may be relatively harmless compared to legal alcohol -- the plant has never been shown to cause an overdose death -- but marijuana prohibition is deadly. Robert Sharpe, Program Officer The Lindesmith Center-Drug Policy, Foundation Washington, D.C Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n2032/a10.html?2107 - --- MAP posted-by: Derek