Pubdate: Tue, 06 May 2014
Source: East Valley Tribune (AZ)
Copyright: 2014 East Valley Tribune.
Contact: http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/opinion/submit_a_letter/
Website: http://www.eastvalleytribune.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2708
Author: Robert Sharpe
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v14/n377/a04.html

MARIJUANA PROHIBITION WRONG WAY TO CONTROL USE

Regarding Linda Turley-Hansen=C3=A2=C2=80=C2=99s April 27 op-ed, like any
 drug,
marijuana can be harmful if abused. Marijuana prohibition only
increases the risk factor. Prohibition opens up a gateway to hard
drugs by granting a monopoly on marijuana distribution to drug cartels
that also sell meth, cocaine and heroin. 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 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 but
throughout the nation, it=C3=A2=C2=80=C2=99s time to stop the pointless a
rrests and
instead tax legal marijuana.

Robert Sharpe
Arlington, Va.
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MAP posted-by: Matt