Pubdate: Tue, 24 Jun 2008 Source: Times, The (Trenton, NJ) Copyright: 2008 The Times Contact: http://www.nj.com/times/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/458 Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v08/n601/a05.html Author: Jerry Epstein RELEASE MARIJUANA FROM PROHIBITION Children are a primary concern for drug policy partially because drug abuse and addiction peak around age 21. The Times' call for increased judicial discretion is welcome (editorial, "Zone defense," June 20), but there is no data that show varying punishments based on distances from schools has impeded availability. We must address the problem at a more fundamental level. Some 83 percent of drug abuse is due to alcohol -- 69 percent exclusively alcohol and another 14 percent where other drugs have been added. Much of the rest is prescription drug abuse. Policy does not reflect those basic facts. Despite massive increases in arrests and imprisonment over the decades, the financial temptation produced by prohibition has led to more than 3 percent of teens becoming involved in drug sales, primarily of marijuana, which is currently used by 93 percent as many as use alcohol on an average day by those aged 12 to 17. Marijuana is the backbone of a distribution system that can be expanded to provide other drugs (thus the "gateway," according to the National Academy of Sciences). The national commissions on marijuana of 1972 and 1982 pondered such effects and urged a serious review of marijuana prohibition, which has never been ef fected but is desperately needed. Free market incentives work. We have surrendered control of the drug supply to criminals. Sup ply meets demand. When we punish sales to adults severely, we remove the disincentive to sell to the young. Bottom line: Some 90 percent of 12th graders have reported marijuana is "easy to get" since 1975 and most it's easier to get than alcohol. Such an intolerable failure re quires open discussion, assessment and accountability. JERRY EPSTEIN Houston, Texas The writer, a New Jersey native, is a researcher for the Drug Policy Forum of Texas. - --- MAP posted-by: Steve Heath