Just because something is dangerous does not automatically mean that the best approach to those dangers is to throw millions of people in prison. We all know that tobacco, alcohol and AIDS are hazardous to your health. But prison is not the best public policy for those hazards. Prison, in fact, would be a terrible mistake. It is the same principle with illegal drugs. We can assume that drugs are dangerous. That is not the question. The question is: What is the best public policy for those dangers? On this question, every major study of drug policy has agreed that, whatever the dangers may be, prison is the wrong approach. These studies recommend decriminalization because of those dangers, and because prison is the worst approach. Bigger prisons do not equal better public health policy. Joanna Wools Grand Coulee, Wash. [end]
If that's the standard, let's apply it to America's two most common pleasure drugs, alcohol and tobacco. If tobacco was subjected to FDA scrutiny it would be a Schedule I drug, prohibited just like heroin because it is extremely addictive and has no medicinal value. Alcohol would join cocaine in Schedule II, having some medicinal value but still having enough potential for abuse to warrant full criminalization if used for recreation. This points out the hypocrisy of America's drug enforcement system. The recreational drugs endorsed by the majority have been exempted from the scheduling standards that harshly criminalize users of drugs like marijuana. Marijuana is currently used by about 20 million Americans and has been used at one time or another by 50 million others, including our president and House speaker. All drugs should be subjected to the same standards of criminalization determined by a factual review of their potential for causing harm. Equal protection under the law demands that America's double-standard must end. Johanna Wools, Grand Coulee [end]
Take, for instance, the "gateway theory" that marijuana use leads to the use of "harder" drugs such as cocaine and opiates. By the government's own classification marijuana is a Schedule 1 drug, meaning it is among the most harmful known. Cocaine and opiates, however, are classified as Schedule 2, denoting them as less harmful than Schedule 1 drugs. And how about the statements that marijuana causes cancer at a time when newspapers everywhere, the Wenatchee World included, are reporting that THC, in fact, does not cause cancer. [continues 78 words]
