Pubdate: Thu, 04 Nov 2004
Source: Hook, The (Charlottesville, VA)
Copyright: 2004 The Hook
Contact:  http://readthehook.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3364
Author: Robert Sharpe
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v04/n1428/a05.html

TAX AND REGULATE WEED

Regarding Nick Gillespie's excellent October 8 essay ["Your bong:
Basis of "narco-terrorism"?], the illicit drug of choice in America is
domestically grown marijuana, not Colombian cocaine or Afghan heroin.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Admininstration's misleading drug-terror
propaganda may lead Americans to mistakenly conclude that marijuana
smokers are somehow responsible for the tragic events of September 11.

That misperception is likely no accident.

Taxing and regulating marijuana would render the drug war obsolete. As
long as marijuana remains illegal and distributed by organized crime,
consumers will continue to come into contact with hard drugs like
cocaine and heroin. For obvious reasons, government bureaucrats--
whose jobs depend on a never-ending drug war-- prefer to blame the
plant itself for the alleged "gateway" to hard drugs.

Robert Sharpe

Policy Analyst, Common Sense for Drug Policy

Washington, D.C. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake