Pubdate: Wed, 17 Dec 2003 Source: Times Union (Albany, NY) Copyright: 2003 Capital Newspapers Division of The Hearst Corporation Contact: http://www.timesunion.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/452 Author: Tim Case LEGALIZATION OF POT WOULD HELP DRUG WAR In a recent article by staff writer Leigh Hornbeck, headlined "City police arrest 10 in drug sales sweep," the Mechanicville chief of police is reported as saying that he was taken aback by "how easy it is to buy marijuana, easier than buying cigarettes because of the laws that prohibit the sale of tobacco to minors." This is the exact argument I have been using to try to convince politicians and police that the best way to fight a "drug war" is to legalize and regulate through the state Health Department or the Liquor Authority the market for all drugs, but especially marijuana. But doesn't it make sense, and even by the chief's own admission, that if it is harder for minors to buy cigarettes due to a legal marketplace, then the same would hold true for a legal, regulated marijuana market? A legal and regulated market would go a long way toward reducing the prison population and the police time spent enforcing laws that obviously don't work and would thus reduce the tax burden on hardworking and, yes, sometimes marijuana-consuming adults. TIM CASE Cohoes - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake