Pubdate: Tue, 07 Jan 2014 Source: New York Times (NY) Copyright: 2014 The New York Times Company Contact: http://www.nytimes.com/ref/membercenter/help/lettertoeditor.html Website: http://www.nytimes.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/298 Author: Tom Angell Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v14/n016/a02.html Note: Third of five IS LEGALIZING MARIJUANA A BAD THING? To the Editor: As a marijuana legalization advocate, I'm not going to argue with David Brooks about whether marijuana is safe or harmful. No matter how bad one thinks the drug is in and of itself, there's no question that prohibiting it only increases the potential for harm. Making marijuana illegal means its production and profits are in the hands of criminals who often use violence to protect their market share. There's no testing and labeling of street marijuana for potency and purity. And perhaps the worst consequence of prohibition is the saddling of hundreds of thousands of people every year with criminal records that can make it difficult to get a job and lead a productive life. Mr. Brooks is surely happy that he didn't have to experience being arrested for his admitted marijuana use, so it's unfortunate that he'd want to subject others to life-damaging criminal records simply for doing what he did. TOM ANGELL Washington, Jan. 3, 2014 The writer is chairman of Marijuana Majority. - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D