THE WAR ON MARIJUANA

Regarding the editorial "Misplaced Priorities" (Aug. 25):

The editorial was right on target. In order to justify ever-expanding
budgets, U.S. drug warriors claim they target major drug kingpins who
traffic in heroin and cocaine. U.S. government statistics reveal otherwise.

The drug war in America is in large part a war against marijuana, by far
the most popular illicit drug. In 1999 there were 704,812 arrests for
marijuana, 620,541 for possession alone.

For a drug that has never been shown to cause an overdose death, the
allocation of resources used to enforce marijuana laws is outrageous.

Of course, a reform of marijuana laws would derail the entire drug war
gravy train.

Marijuana is demonized as a "gateway" drug that leads to harder drugs. In
fact, marijuana prohibition is best described as a gateway policy. Illicit
marijuana provides the black market contacts that introduce users to hard
drugs like heroin.

And let's not kid ourselves about protecting children. The thriving black
market has no age controls.

A country founded on the concept of limited government is using its
superpower status to export a dangerous moral crusade around the globe.

America's cherished Bill of Rights is increasingly irrelevant thanks to
drug war exemptions. It is not possible to wage a moralistic war against
consensual vices unless privacy is completely eliminated.

America can either be a free country or a "drug-free" country, but not both.

ROBERT SHARPE

Washington.