Pubdate: Fri, 27 Sep 2002 Source: West Australian (Australia) Copyright: 2002 West Australian Newspapers Limited Contact: http://www.thewest.com.au Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/495 Author: Robert Sharpe Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n1797/a03.html SUBSIDISING DRUG CRIMES GERALDINE MULLINS (Letters, 24/9) makes the common mistake of assuming that punitive cannabis laws deter use. A study by the University of Michigan reports that lifetime use of cannabis is higher in the United States than in any European country, yet the US is one of the few Western countries that wastes resources punishing those who prefer cannabis to alcohol. Unlike alcohol, cannabis has never been shown to cause an overdose death, nor does it share the addictive properties of tobacco. The short-term health effects of cannabis are inconsequential compared with the long-term effects of criminal records. Unfortunately, cannabis represents the counter culture to misguided reactionaries intent on legislating their version of morality. In subsidising the prejudices of culture warriors, governments are inadvertently subsidising organised crime. The drug war's distortion of immutable laws of supply and demand make an easily grown weed literally worth its weight in gold. The only clear winners in the war on some drugs are drug cartels and shameless tough-on-drugs politicians who have built careers on confusing drug prohibition's collateral damage with a relatively harmless plant. ROBERT SHARPE, Drug Policy Alliance, Washington DC, US. - --- MAP posted-by: Josh