Pubdate: Sun, 09 Dec 2012
Source: Tampa Bay Times (FL)
Copyright: 2012 St. Petersburg Times
Contact: http://www.sptimes.com/letters/
Website: http://www.tampabay.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/419
Author: John G. Chase
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v12/n619/a10.html

FACTS WILL TURN THE TIDE

Marijuana prohibition is the most wasteful, destructive social policy
since the Jim Crow laws of the Deep South. I don't know what it will
take to reach the tipping point toward legal cannabis, but data is
accumulating that may help.

Researchers at universities in Colorado, Oregon and Montana have
studied the 17 states that enacted medical marijuana laws between 1990
and 2010. They found that the law was accompanied by significant
decreases in traffic fatalities, with strong indications connecting
this to decreases in alcohol consumption.

These researchers also plan to look at crime rates. Does anyone
believe legal cannabis will be found to be associated with more
domestic violence, barroom fights, turf battles and murders? Not I.

John G. Chase, Palm Harbor
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MAP posted-by: Matt