Pubdate: Mon, 02 Feb 2009 Source: Springfield News-Leader (MO) Copyright: 2009 The Springfield News-Leader Contact: http://www.springfieldnews-leader.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1129 Author: Robert Sharpe Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n001/a02.html PROHIBITION DOESN'T HELP TAXPAYERS Regarding Matt McSpadden's thoughtful Dec. 31 op-ed: The drug war is in large part a war on marijuana, by far the most popular illicit drug. Marijuana prohibition has done little other than burden millions of otherwise law-abiding citizens with criminal records. 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 use 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, government is subsidizing organized crime. The drug war's distortion of immutable laws of supply and demand causes big money to grow on little trees. The only clear winners in the war on marijuana are drug cartels and shameless tough-on-drugs politicians who've built careers confusing drug prohibition's collateral damage with a relatively harmless plant. The big losers in this battle are the taxpayers who have been deluded into believing big government is the appropriate response to non-traditional consensual vices. 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 and United Nations stats: http:// www.unodc.org Robert Sharpe, MPA, Policy analyst, Common Sense for Drug Policy Washington, D.C. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin