Pubdate: Fri, 27 Feb 2009 Source: Wall Street Journal (US) Copyright: 2009 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. Contact: http://www.wsj.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/487 Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n208/a06.html Author: James M. Nachbar, M.D. U.S. POLICY ON DRUGS HAS BIG REPERCUSSIONS ABROAD It has been obvious for a long time that the collateral damage from the war on drugs is far worse than anything the drugs themselves could ever do. You're an idiot to use drugs for other than therapeutic purposes (the same can be said for alcohol and tobacco, for which there are no therapeutic purposes), but just as accountants are the only real beneficiaries of our insane tax code, the mob is the only real beneficiary of prohibition. Only when we have made these drugs available as easily as alcohol and tobacco will we induce a deflationary spiral in the drug trade. However, a lot of government workers will also have to find something else to do. James M. Nachbar, M.D. Scottsdale, Ariz. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake