Pubdate: Thu, 15 Apr 2010
Source: Tucson Weekly (AZ)
Copyright: 2010 Tucson Weekly
Contact:  http://www.tucsonweekly.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/462
Author: Robert Sharpe, Policy analyst, Common Sense for Drug Policy
Referred: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v10/n245/a04.html?1247

THE WAR ON DRUGS HAS BEEN A FAILURE!

Regarding Tom Danehy's April 1 column: 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 jail cells are inappropriate for health 
interventions and ineffective as deterrents.

The first marijuana laws were enacted in response to Mexican 
immigration during the early 1900s, despite opposition from the 
American Medical Association. Dire warnings that marijuana inspires 
homicidal rages have been counterproductive, at best. White Americans 
did not even begin to smoke pot until a soon-to-be entrenched federal 
bureaucracy began funding reefer-madness propaganda.

Marijuana prohibition has failed miserably as a deterrent. The United 
States has higher rates of marijuana use than the Netherlands, where 
marijuana is legally available to adults older than 18. The only 
clear winners in the war on marijuana are drug cartels and shameless 
tough-on-drugs politicians who've built careers confusing the drug 
war's collateral damage with a relatively harmless plant.

Robert Sharpe Policy analyst, Common Sense for Drug Policy
- ---
MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart