Pubdate: Fri, 11 Jan 2013
Source: Great Falls Tribune (MT)
Copyright: 2013 Great Falls Tribune
Contact: http://www.greatfallstribune.com/customerservice/contactus.html
Website: http://www.greatfallstribune.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2502
Author: Robert Sharpe
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v13/n012/a03.html

DRUG WAR DISTORTS

Regarding Ben Forsyth's Jan. 5 op-ed: If the goal of marijuana 
prohibition is to subsidize violent drug cartels, prohibition is a 
success. The drug war distorts supply and demand dynamics so that big 
money grows on little trees.

If the goal of marijuana prohibition is to deter use, it's a failure. 
The U.S. has double the rate of use as the Netherlands, where 
marijuana is legally available. The criminalization of Americans who 
prefer marijuana to martinis has no basis in science. The war on 
marijuana consumers is a failed cultural inquisition, not an 
evidence-based public health campaign.

It's time to stop the arrests and instead tax legal marijuana.

- -- Robert Sharpe,

Arlington, Va.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom