ILLEGALIZING INCREASES DANGER

To the Editor:

We have once again seen one of the basic premises of economics in
action. The recent article entitled "Laced marijuana hits campus" has
demonstrated that any product that is provided illegally will be
provided at a much greater risk than a product that can be obtained
through normal, legal means. People have to obtain marijuana
illegally, and thus subject themselves to the risks associated with
the black market.

The stories of people becoming sick from getting Ritalin or aspirin
that is mixed with some more dangerous drugs are few and far between.

The incidence of people obtaining an illegal drug like marijuana that
is mixed with some more dangerous chemical is all too frequent.

Studies by the World Health Organization and the National Commission
on Marijuana and Drug Abuse have concluded that not a single incidence
of death has ever occurred in the United States solely from marijuana.

According to the U.S. Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN), whenever
marijuana is a contributor in a cause of death, it is always in
conjunction with other drugs.

By making marijuana impossible to get through legal means, the
government has actually increased the danger to her citizens instead
of lessening it.

Ari Elias-Bachrach, http://www.rescomp.wustl.edu/~wussdp/
President, Washington University Students for Sensible Drug Policy,
Engineering Class of 2003