Pubdate: Fri, 08 Aug 2014
Source: Dallas Morning News (TX)
Copyright: 2014 The Dallas Morning News, Inc.
Contact: http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/send-a-letter/
Website: http://www.dallasnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/117
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v14/n639/a07.html
Author: Robert Sharpe

MARIJUANA PROHIBITION IS A CATASTROPHIC FAILURE

Re: "For Sane Drug Laws - Texans need to know where candidates stand on
pot," Sunday Editorials.

Regarding your thoughtful Aug. 3 editorial, 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 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
has been legally available for decades. 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, policy analyst, Common Sense for Drug Policy,
Washington, D.C.
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MAP posted-by: Matt