Pubdate: Mon, 10 Jun 2013
Source: Corvallis Gazette-Times (OR)
Copyright: 2013 Lee Enterprises
Website: http://www.gazettetimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2976
Author: Robert Sharpe
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v13/n244/a05.html

IT'S TIME TO STOP THE ARRESTS, MAKE MARIJUANA LEGAL

Regarding your June 3 editorial," Feds must catch up with states on
pot laws":

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 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 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.

This country can no longer afford to subsidize the prejudices of
hateful culture warriors seeking to impose their version of morality
on the rest of us. It's time to stop the pointless arrests and instead
tax legal marijuana.

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