Pubdate: Thu, 01 Jan 2015
Source: Pasadena Weekly (CA)
Copyright: 2015 Robert Sharpe
Contact:  http://www.pasadenaweekly.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4323
Author: Robert Sharpe

A CATASTROPHIC FAILURE

It's been 18 years since California voters approved medical
marijuana. That California legislators are only now getting around to
regulating medical marijuana is absurd. They missed the boat.

Restricting access at this point is a gift to Mexican drug cartels.
It's time to catch up with Colorado and fully legalize it. 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

COMMON SENSE FOR DRUG POLICY

WASHINGTON, DC
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D