Pubdate: Tue, 17 Dec 2013
Source: Independent  (UK)
Copyright: 2013 Independent Newspapers (UK) Ltd.
Contact:  http://www.independent.co.uk/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/209
Author: Robert Sharpe
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v13/n591/a06.html

VOICE OF SANITY AMID THE 'WAR ON DRUGS'

Uruguay is the first country brave enough to point out that the 
emperor wears no clothes. The days when governments can get away with 
confusing the drug war's tremendous collateral damage with a 
comparatively harmless plant are coming to an end. If the goal of 
cannabis prohibition is to subsidise violent drug cartels, 
prohibition is a grand success. If the goal is to deter use, cannabis 
prohibition is a catastrophic failure.

Consider the experience of the former land of the free and current 
record holder in citizens incarcerated. The United States has double 
the rate of cannabis use of the Netherlands, where cannabis is legal. 
The global criminalisation of people who prefer marijuana to martinis 
has no basis in science. The war on cannabis consumers is a failed 
cultural inquisition, not an evidence-based public health campaign. 
Not just in Uruguay but throughout the world, it's time to stop the 
arrests and instead tax legal cannabis.

Robert Sharpe

Policy Analyst, Common Sense for Drug Policy, Washington DC
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom