MARIJUANA SHOULD BE TAXED AND REGULATED

Re: 'War on drugs has been a costly failure' (Daily News, July 3)

There is a middle ground between drug prohibition and blanket legalization.

Switzerland's heroin maintenance program has been shown to reduce
disease, death and crime among chronic users. Providing addicts with
standardized doses in a clinical setting eliminates many of the
problems associated with illicit heroin use.

The success of the Swiss program has inspired heroin maintenance
pilot projects in Canada, Germany, Spain, Denmark and the
Netherlands. If expanded, prescription heroin maintenance would
deprive organized crime of a core client base. This would render
illegal heroin trafficking unprofitable and spare future generations addiction.

Marijuana should be taxed and regulated like alcohol, only without
the ubiquitous advertising. Separating the hard and soft drug markets
is critical.

As long as organized crime controls marijuana distribution, consumers
will continue to come into contact with sellers of addictive drugs
like heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine. This "gateway" is a direct
result of marijuana prohibition.

Robert Sharpe,

policy analyst common sense for drug policy

Washington, DC