Pubdate: Wed, 26 Jan 2005 Source: Good 5 Cent Cigar (U of RI: Edu) Copyright: 2005 Good 5 Cent Cigar Contact: http://www.ramcigar.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2599 Author: Robert Sharpe Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth) REFORM MARIJUANA LAW - - To the Cigar, Marijuana possession does indeed have consequences, hence Students for Sensible Drug Policy's efforts to reform harmful marijuana laws. 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. Marijuana can be harmful if abused, but criminal records are inappropriate as health interventions are ineffective as deterrents. The University of Michigan's Monitoring the Future Study reports that lifetime use of marijuana is higher in the United States than any European country, yet America 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 many Americans. In subsidizing the prejudices of culture warriors, the U.S. government is subsidizing organized 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 marijuana are drug cartels and shameless tough-on-drugs politicians who've built careers on confusing drug prohibition's collateral damage with a relatively harmless plant. Students who want to help end the intergenerational culture war otherwise known as the war on some drugs should contact Students for Sensible Drug Policy at http://www.ssdp.org Sincerely, Robert Sharpe Policy Analyst Common Sense for Drug Policy http://www.csdp.org - --- MAP posted-by: Beth