Pubdate: Wed, 06 Feb 2013
Source: Metro Times (Detroit, MI)
Copyright: 2013 C.E.G.W./Times-Shamrock
Contact:  http://www.metrotimes.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1381
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v13/n055/a02.html
Author: Robert Sharpe

FAILED FIGHT

Re: Larry Gabriel's Higher Ground column titled "Don't be dazed" (Jan. 30):

Not only should medical marijuana be made available to patients in 
need, but adult recreational use should be regulated. Drug policies 
modeled after our nation's disastrous experiment with 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.

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 never-ending drug war.

- -Robert Sharpe, Policy Analyst, Common Sense for Drug Policy, Washington, D.C.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom