WASHINGTON SPEAKS UP ON DECRIMINALIZING MARIJUANA

Regarding "Senator Nolin says Parliament can't ignore gap in public
opinion," (The Hill Times, June 14) on the ongoing marijuana debate in
Canada, if health outcomes determined drug laws instead of cultural norms
marijuana would be legal and virtually worthless. Alcohol poisoning kills
thousands annually. Marijuana, on the other hand, has never been shown to
cause an overdose death. Marijuana may be relatively harmless, but
marijuana prohibition is quite dangerous.

Canadian tax dollars are being wasted on anti-drug strategies that only
make marijuana growing more profitable. The drug war's distortion of basic
supply and demand dynamics makes an easily grown weed literally worth its
weight in gold. With money practically growing on trees any operations
destroyed will be replaced.

And let's not kid ourselves about protecting children. The thriving black
market has no controls for age, making it easier for teenagers to buy
illegal drugs than beer. Politicians need to stop worrying about the
message drug policy reform sends to children and start thinking about the
children themselves. There are cost-effective alternatives to the failed
drug war. In Europe, the Netherlands has successfully reduced overall drug
use by replacing marijuana prohibition with regulation. Separating the hard
and soft drug markets and establishing age controls for marijuana has
proven more effective than zero tolerance.

As the most popular illicit drug in Canada, marijuana provides the black
market contacts that introduce users to drugs like heroin. This "gateway"
is the direct result of a fundamentally flawed policy. Given that marijuana
is arguably safer than legal alcohol, it makes no sense to waste tax
dollars on policies that finance organized crime groups like the Hells
Angels and facilitate the use of deadly hard drugs.

Robert Sharpe, Program Officer

The Lindesmith Center-Drug Policy Foundation

Washington, D.C.