Pubdate: Sun, 12 Jan 2014
Source: Buffalo News (NY)
Copyright: 2014 The Buffalo News
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/GXIzebQL
Website: http://www.buffalonews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/61
Author: Robert Sharpe
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v14/n018/a03.html

U.S. SHOULD MAKE POT LEGAL AND TAX IT

Columnist Ruth Marcus makes the common mistake of assuming that 
marijuana prohibition deters use. 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 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. 
Not just in Colorado but throughout the nation, it's time to stop the 
pointless arrests and instead tax legal marijuana.

Robert Sharpe

Policy Analyst Common Sense for Drug Policy
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom