Pubdate: Fri, 09 May 2014
Source: Wisconsin State Journal (WI)
Copyright: 2014 Madison Newspapers, Inc.
Contact:  http://host.madison.com/wsj/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/506
Author: Robert Sharpe
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v14/n399/a06.html

WAR ON DRUGS FAILED, SO END IT AND TAX LEGAL MARIJUANA

Regarding Chris Rickert's Sunday column, "Why have two drugs to 
abuse?," the days when politicians can get away with confusing the 
drug war's tremendous collateral damage with a comparatively harmless 
plant are coming to an end.

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, according to a 2008 
World Health Organization survey.

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's time to stop the 
pointless arrests and instead tax legal marijuana.

- -- Robert Sharpe, Washington, D.C., policy analyst, Common Sense for Drug Policy
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom