Pubdate: Thu, 09 Jan 2014
Source: Palm Beach Post, The (FL)
Copyright: 2014 The Palm Beach Post
Contact:  http://www.palmbeachpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/333
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v14/n015/a03.html
Author: Robert Sharpe

SEE WAR ON POT FOR THE FAILURE IT IS

Columnist Ruth Marcus makes the common mistake of assuming that 
marijuana prohibition actually deters use ("Smoke obscures dangers," 
Sunday). 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. 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. 
Not just in Washington state but throughout the nation, it's time to 
stop the pointless arrests and instead tax legal marijuana.

ROBERT SHARPE Washington

Editor's note: Robert Sharpe is a policy analyst for Common Sense for 
Drug Policy,a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to reforming 
drug policy and expanding harm reduction (www. csdp.org).
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom