Pubdate: Wed, 18 Jun 2014
Source: Stabroek News (Guyana)
Copyright: 2014 Stabroek News
Contact:  http://www.stabroeknews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4034
Author: Robert Sharpe
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v14/n513/a02.html

MARIJUANA PROHIBITION IS INDEFENSIBLE

Dear Editor,

Regarding your thoughtful June 14 editorial, the move to 
decriminalize marijuana in Jamaica will definitely be worth watching. 
Guyana would be wise to follow suit.

United States President Barack Obama is allowing marijuana 
legalization to move forward. The next president may not be so enlightened.

Guyana should legalize marijuana now, before the US starts using its 
superpower status to bully other nations once again.

It's not just about opportunistic timing, it's the right thing to do. 
Marijuana prohibition is indefensible. 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 citizens 
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. In Guyana and all around the 
world, it's time to stop the pointless arrests and instead tax legal marijuana.

Yours faithfully,

Robert Sharpe

Policy Analyst

Common Sense for Drug Policy

USA
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom