Pubdate: Mon, 14 Jan 2013
Source: Gloucester Daily Times (MA)
Copyright: 2013 Eagle Tribune Publishing Company
Contact: http://www.gloucestertimes.com/contactus/local_story_015132144.html
Website: http://www.gloucestertimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/169
Author: Robert Sharpe

TAX, REGULATE RECREATIONAL POT USE

To the editor:

Regarding Massachusetts' new medical marijuana law, not only should 
medical marijuana be made available to patients in need, but adult 
recreational use should be regulated.

Dug policies modeled after alcohol prohibition have given rise to a 
youth-oriented black market. Illegal drug dealers don't ID for age, 
but they do recruit minors immune to adult sentences. So much for 
protecting the children.

Throwing more money at the problem is no solution. Attempts to limit 
the supply of illegal drugs while demand remains constant only 
increase the profitability of drug trafficking. For addictive drugs 
like heroin, a spike in street prices leads desperate addicts to 
increase criminal activity to feed desperate habits. The drug war 
doesn't fight crime, it fuels crime.

Taxing and regulating marijuana, the most popular illicit drug, is a 
cost-effective alternative to the never-ending drug war.

As long as marijuana distribution is controlled by organized crime, 
consumers will continue to come into contact with hard drugs like 
methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin. This "gateway" is a direct 
result of marijuana prohibition.

ROBERT SHARPE

Common Sense for Drug Policy,

Washington, D.C.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom