Pubdate: Fri, 20 May 2011 Source: Norwich Bulletin (CT) Copyright: 2011 GateHouse Media, Inc. Contact: http://www.norwichbulletin.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2206 Author: Robert Sharpe Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v11/n291/a10.html DRUG WAR IS FOOLISH, EXPENSIVE PRACTICE With regard to Roberta Helming's May 6 column, the drug war is largely a war on marijuana smokers. In 2009, there were 858,405 marijuana arrests in the United States, almost 90 percent for simple possession. At a time when state and local governments are laying off police, firefighters and teachers, this country continues to spend enormous public resources criminalizing Americans who prefer marijuana to martinis. The end result of this ongoing culture war is not necessarily lower rates of use. The United States has higher rates of marijuana use than the Netherlands, where marijuana is legally available. Decriminalization is long overdue. Taxing and regulating marijuana would render the drug war obsolete. As long as organized crime controls distribution, marijuana consumers will come into contact with sellers of hard drugs such as methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin. This "gateway" is a direct result of marijuana prohibition. ROBERT SHARPE Washington, D.C. Robert Sharpe is a policy analyst with Washington, D.C.-based Common Sense for Drug Policy. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake