Pubdate: Tue, 31 Dec 2013
Source: Barrie Examiner (CN ON)
Copyright: 2013 Robert Sharpe
Contact: http://www.thebarrieexaminer.com/letters
Website: http://www.thebarrieexaminer.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2317
Author: Robert Sharpe

TIME FOR TORIES TO LEGALIZE MARIJUANA

The federal Conservatives need to catch up with the 21st
century.

The days when politicians can get away with confusing the drug war's
collateral damage with a comparatively harmless plant are coming to an
end.

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. 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 marijuana use as the Netherlands, where marijuana
is legal.

The criminalization of people 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 arrests and instead tax legal
marijuana.

Robert Sharpe, Arlington, VA 
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D