Pubdate: Sat, 12 Jul 2014
Source: Daily Astorian, The (OR)
Copyright: 2014 The Daily Astorian
Contact:  http://www.dailyastorian.info/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1629
Author: Robert Sharpe

DRUG SENSE

Regarding the editorial "=C2=9CWashington marijuana sales to begin this
week"=C2=80=C2=9D (The Daily Astorian, July 8), the people of Washington 
state
are way ahead of the politicians in Washington, D.C. Oregon should
follow their lead.

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 U.S. 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.
Not just in Colorado and Washington but throughout the nation, it'=C2=80=C2
=99s
time to stop the pointless arrests and instead tax legal marijuana.

Robert Sharpe Policy analyst, Common Sense for Drug Policy Arlington,
Va.
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MAP posted-by: Matt