Pubdate: Thu, 22 May 2003
Source: See Magazine (CN AB)
Copyright: 2003 SEE Magazine
Contact:  http://www.seemagazine.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2367
Author: Robert Sharpe
Note: Title by MAP Editor

ACKNOWLEDGE REALITY WITH DRUG POLICY

Editor, SEE

(Re: Don't Tread on Weed by Fish Griwkowsky, 5/15/03)

There is a big difference between condoning marijuana use and protecting 
children from drugs. Decriminalization acknowledges the social reality of 
marijuana and frees users from the stigma of life-shattering criminal 
records. What's really needed is a regulated market with age controls.

Separating the hard and soft drug markets is critical. As long as marijuana 
distribution remains in the hands of organized crime, consumers will 
continue to come into contact with addictive drugs like cocaine. This 
"gateway" is the direct result of a fundamentally flawed policy.

In the words of Canadian Senator Pierre Claude Nolin, "Scientific evidence 
overwhelmingly indicates that cannabis is substantially less harmful than 
alcohol and should be treated not as a criminal issue but as a social and 
public health issue." Marijuana may be relatively harmless, but marijuana 
prohibition is deadly.

The biggest obstacle to marijuana law reform in Canada is the U.S. 
government. Despite evidence that punitive marijuana laws fail to deter 
use, the former land of the free and current record holder in citizens 
incarcerated continues to uses its superpower status to export its failed 
drug policies around the globe.

The University of Michigan's Monitoring the Future Study reports that 
lifetime use of marijuana is higher in the U.S. than any European country, 
yet the U.S. is one of the few Western countries that uses its criminal 
justice system to punish citizens who prefer marijuana to martinis.

The short-term health effects of marijuana are inconsequential compared to 
the long-term effects of criminal records. Unfortunately, marijuana 
represents the counterculture to reactionaries intent on legislating their 
version of morality. Canada should follow the lead of Europe and Just Say 
No to the American Inquisition.

The results of a comparative study of European and U.S. rates of drug use 
can be found at:

http://www.monitoringthefuture.org/pubs/espad_pr.pdf

*MTF is funded with U.S. government grants

Robert Sharpe

Drug Policy Alliance
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