Pubdate: Tue, 30 Jan 2001
Source: Tulsa World (OK)
Copyright: 2001 World Publishing Co.
Contact:  P.O. Box 1770, Tulsa, OK 74102
Website: http://www.tulsaworld.com/
Author: Robert Sharpe
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n123/a02.html

SENSIBLE SOLUTIONS FOR DRUGS

Kudos to Alex Adwan for his excellent column on the failed drug war ("Are 
we losing the `war on drugs?' "). Drug offenses account for the majority of 
federal incarcerations. At an average cost of $25,071 per inmate annually, 
maintaining the world's largest prison system is hardly fiscally 
conservative. Compared to deadly alcohol and addictive tobacco, marijuana 
is relatively harmless. Yet marijuana prohibition is deadly. There is 
nothing inherent in marijuana that compels users to try harder drugs; 
however, its black-market status puts users in contact with criminals who 
push them. Current drug policy is effectively a gateway policy. With no 
controls for age, the thriving black market is very much youth-oriented. 
Sensible regulation is desperately needed to undermine the black market and 
restrict access to drugs.

The Netherlands has managed to greatly reduce overall drug use by 
separating the hard and soft drug markets and establishing controls for 
age. As counterintuitive as it may seem, replacing marijuana prohibition 
with regulation would ultimately do a better job of protecting children 
than the drug war.

Robert Sharpe, Washington, D.C.

Robert Sharpe, MPA, is program officer for The Lindesmith Center-Drug 
Policy Foundation.
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MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart