Pubdate: Mon, 25 Feb 2013
Source: Tribune Review (Pittsburgh, PA)
Copyright: 2013 Tribune-Review Publishing Co.
Contact: http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/opinion/letters/send/
Website: http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/460
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v13/n071/a09.html
Author: Robert Sharpe

FAILED CULTURAL INQUISITION

Regarding the editorial "Legalizing marijuana: Sensible steps" (Feb. 
9 and TribLIVE.com): The people of Colorado and Washington state are 
way ahead of the politicians in Washington, D.C.

If the goal of marijuana prohibition is to subsidize violent drug 
cartels, prohibition is a grand 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, prohibition is 
a catastrophic failure. The United States has double the rate of use 
in 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 pointless arrests and instead tax legal marijuana.

Robert Sharpe

Washington, D.C.

The writer is a policy analyst with Common Sense for Drug Policy (csdp.org).
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom