Pubdate: Thu, 04 Apr 2013
Source: Free Lance-Star, The (VA)
Copyright: 2013 The Free Lance-Star
Contact:  http://fredericksburg.com/flshome
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1065
Author: Robert Sharpe

MARIJUANA PROHIBITION: A CATASTROPHIC FAILURE

Thank you for making the case for marijuana law reform in your April 
1 editorial ["A reefer reckoning"]. 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 U.S. has double the rate of marijuana use 
as the Netherlands, where marijuana is legal. 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. Not just in Colorado and 
Washington state, but throughout the nation, it's time to stop the 
pointless arrests and instead tax legal marijuana.

Robert Sharpe

Washington

Mr. Sharpe is policy analyst for Common Sense for Drug Policy.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom