Pubdate: Sun, 29 Sep 2013
Source: Sacramento Bee (CA)
Copyright: 2013 The Sacramento Bee
Contact: http://mapinc.org/url/0n4cG7L1
Website: http://www.sacbee.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/376
Author: Robert Sharpe
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v13/n479/a01.html

MARIJUANA NOT CAUSE OF PROBLEMS DA SCULLY DESCRIBES

Re "Lawmakers need to stop with the sneaky marijuana legislation" 
(Another View, Sept. 22):

Sacramento County District Attorney Jan Scully is guilty of confusing 
the drug war's collateral damage with a comparatively harmless plant.

Every public safety risk she describes is a direct result of 
marijuana's illegality.

If the goal of marijuana prohibition is to subsidize violent drug 
cartels, prohibition is a 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 failure. The 
United States has higher rates of marijuana use than 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, Arlington, Virginia, Policy Analyst, Common Sense 
for Drug Policy
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom