Pubdate: Sun, 09 Feb 2014
Source: Oklahoman, The (OK)
Copyright: 2014 Robert Sharpe
Contact: http://www.newsok.com/voices/guidelines
Website: http://newsok.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/318
Author: Robert Sharpe
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v14/n122/a05.html

TIME TO STOP POINTLESS ARRESTS; TAX LEGAL MARIJUANA

Regarding "New pot laws don't reflect liberal ascendancy in U.S." (Our
Views, Feb. 3): A growing majority of Americans now support marijuana
legalization. This is a bipartisan issue. The punitive nanny state has
proven itself to be a failure. Surely Republicans who loathe big
government can see this. 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 U.S. has almost 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 Colorado and
Washington but throughout the nation, it's time to stop the pointless
arrests and instead tax legal marijuana.

Robert Sharpe, Arlington, Va.

Sharpe is policy analyst at Common Sense for Drug Policy in
Washington, D.C.
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D