Pubdate: Sat, 29 Jun 2002
Source: Times Union (Albany, NY)
Copyright: 2002 Capital Newspapers Division of The Hearst Corporation
Contact:  http://www.timesunion.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/452
Author: Robert Sharpe
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization)

MARIJUANA LAWS ARE STEEPED IN PREJUDICE 	

Sheryl McCarthy's July 18 column on marijuana law reform in Britain was 
right on target. Jailing citizens who prefer marijuana to martinis is not a 
good use of tax dollars. There is no evidence that punitive marijuana laws 
do anything other than burden otherwise law-abiding Americans with criminal 
records. Based on findings that criminal records are inappropriate as 
health interventions and ineffective as deterrents, a majority of European 
Union countries has decriminalized marijuana, yet lifetime use of marijuana 
is higher in the United States than any European country. If health 
outcomes determined drug laws instead of cultural norms, marijuana would be 
legal. Unlike alcohol, marijuana has never been shown to cause an overdose 
death, nor does it share the addictive properties of tobacco. The 
short-term health effects of marijuana are inconsequential compared to the 
long-term effects of criminal records. Unfortunately, marijuana represents 
the counterculture to misguided reactionaries in Congress intent on 
legislating their version of morality. This country cannot afford to 
continue subsidizing the prejudices of culture warriors.

ROBERT SHARPE, Drug Policy Alliance, Washington, D.C.
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MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager