Pubdate: Thu, 30 Jan 2014
Source: Day, The (New London,CT)
Copyright: 2014 The Day Publishing Co.
Contact:  http://www.theday.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/293
Author: Robert Sharpe
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v14/n092/a06.html

FACE THE REALITY, COSTS AND HARM OF POT LAWS

Regarding Alejandro Hope's op-ed, "Legal marijuana won't bring peace 
to Mexico," (Jan. 26), if the goal of marijuana prohibition is to 
subsidize Mexican 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. 
This country can no longer afford to subsidize the prejudices of 
culture warriors. Not just in Washington and Colorado but throughout 
the nation, it's time to stop the pointless arrests and instead tax 
legal marijuana.

Robert Sharpe

Washington, DC

Editor's note: The writer is a policy analyst for the organization 
Common Sense for Drug Policy.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom