Pubdate: Sun, 12 May 2013
Source: Buffalo News (NY)
Copyright: 2013 The Buffalo News
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/GXIzebQL
Website: http://www.buffalonews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/61
Author: Robert Sharpe
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v13/n193/a04.html

MARIJUANA PROHIBITION HAS BEEN A HUGE FAILURE

In his May 5 Viewpoints article, Dr. Robert Whitney makes the common 
mistake of assuming that marijuana prohibition actually deters use. 
The truth is that punitive marijuana laws have little deterrent 
value; in fact, forbidden fruit appeal may increase use. Americans 
did not begin to smoke pot in significant numbers until our federal 
government declared it illegal to do so.

If the goal of marijuana prohibition is to subsidize 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 is to deter use, marijuana prohibition is a catastrophic 
failure. The United States 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. 
It's time to stop the pointless arrests and instead tax legal marijuana.

Robert Sharpe

Policy Analyst

Common Sense for Drug Policy *
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom