Pubdate: Wed, 30 Oct 2013
Source: Metro Times (Detroit, MI)
Copyright: 2013 C.E.G.W./Times-Shamrock
Contact:  http://www.metrotimes.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1381
Author: Robert Sharpe
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v13/n516/a13.html

MARIJUANA RIGHTS NOW

Dear Editor,

re: "Provisioning Centers Bill Lingers in Committee"; [Higher Ground, 
Oct. 23-29, 2013]

Not only should medical marijuana be made available to patients in 
need, but adult recreational use should be taxed and regulated. 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 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. This country can no longer afford to 
subsidize the prejudices of culture warriors. It's time to stop the 
pointless arrests and instead tax legal marijuana.

Robert Sharpe, Lancaster, Penn.

Oct. 25, 2013

The writer is a policy analyst for the advocacy group Common Sense 
for Drug Policy.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom