Pubdate: Sun, 27 Jul 2014
Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA)
Copyright: 2014 Hearst Communications Inc.
Contact: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/submissions/#1
Website: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/388
Author: Robert Sharpe
Page: E11
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v14/n596/a08.html

A CASE FOR LEGALIZATION OF MARIJUANA

Regarding "Free medicinal pot - only in Berkeley," editorial, July 20:
Not only should medical marijuana be made available to patients in
need, but adult recreational use should be legal and regulated.
California needs to catch up with Colorado.

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

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