Pubdate: Tue, 8 Jan 2008 Source: Baltimore Sun (MD) Copyright: 2008 The Baltimore Sun Company Contact: http://www.baltimoresun.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/37 Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n1513/a11.html Author: Robert Sharpe SEPARATE THE HARD, SOFT DRUG MARKETS There is a middle ground between drug prohibition and blanket legalization ("When will we end the failed drug war?" Opinion * Commentary, Dec. 31). Switzerland's heroin maintenance program has been shown to reduce disease, death and crime among chronic users. Heroin maintenance pilot projects are also under way in Canada, Germany, Spain and the Netherlands. If such programs are expanded, prescription heroin maintenance could deprive organized crime of a core client base. This could help render illegal heroin trafficking unprofitable and spare future generations from addiction. Marijuana, on the other hand, should be taxed and regulated like alcohol, only without the ubiquitous advertising. Separating the hard and soft drug markets is critical. As long as marijuana distribution is controlled by organized crime, consumers of the most popular illicit drug will continue to come into contact with sellers of addictive drugs such as cocaine and heroin. Given that marijuana is arguably safer than legal alcohol, it makes no sense to waste scarce resources on failed policies that seek to suppress it. Robert Sharpe Washington The writer is a policy analyst for Common Sense for Drug Policy. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake