Pubdate: Sat, 30 Aug 2014 Source: Chatham Daily News, The (CN ON) Copyright: 2014 Chatham Daily News Contact: http://www.chathamdailynews.ca/letters Website: http://www.chathamdailynews.ca Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1627 Author: Robert Sharpe Page: 6 Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v14/n698/a07.html POT LAWS NOT SCIENCE-BASED Re: Brian MacLeod's thoughtful Aug. 21 column. Lost in the debate over marijuana is the ugly truth behind marijuana prohibition. North America's marijuana laws are based on culture and xenophobia, not science. The first marijuana laws were a racist reaction to Mexican migration during the early 1900s. Writing under the pen name Janey Canuck, Emily Murphy warned Canadians about the dread reefer and its association with non-white immigrants. The yellow journalism of William Randolph Hearst led to its criminalization in the U.S. Dire warnings that marijuana inspires homicidal rages have been counterproductive at best. White North Americans did not begin to smoke marijuana in significant numbers until after government bureaucracies began funding reefer madness junk science. When threatened, the drug war gravy train predictably decries the "message" that drug policy reform sends to children. There is a big difference between condoning marijuana use and protecting children from drugs. Decriminalization acknowledges the social reality of marijuana and frees users from criminal records. What's really needed is a regulated market with age controls. As long as organized crime controls marijuana distribution, consumers will come into contact with hard drugs like cocaine, meth and heroin. Marijuana prohibition is a gateway drug policy. Marijuana law reform may send the wrong message to children, but I like to think the children are more important than the message. Robert Sharpe Policy Analyst Common Sense for Drug Policy Washington, DC - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom