POT LETTER

James Eaves-Johnson's June 20 column on drug-policy reform progress
in Europe and Canada was excellent. Organized crime is no doubt very
pleased with the "tough on drugs" stance of the U.S. government.
Tough drug laws give rise to a lucrative black market in illegal
drugs, effectively subsidizing organized crime.

The crime, corruption, and overdose deaths attributed to drugs are
all direct results of drug prohibition. With alcohol prohibition
repealed, liquor producers no longer gun each down in drive-by
shootings, nor do consumers go blind drinking unregulated bathtub
gin. There are cost-effective alternatives to a never ending drug war.

In Europe, the Netherlands has successfully reduced overall drug use
by replacing marijuana prohibition with regulation. Dutch rates of
drug use are significantly lower than U.S. rates in every category.
Separating the hard and soft drug markets and establishing age
controls for marijuana has proven more effective than zero tolerance.
In the United States, illegal marijuana provides the black-market
contacts that introduce users to drugs such as meth. This "gateway"
is the direct result of a fundamentally flawed policy.

Given that marijuana is arguably safer than legal alcohol -- the
plant has never been shown to cause an overdose death -- it makes no
sense to waste tax dollars on failed policies that finance organized
crime and facilitate the use of hard drugs.

Drug policy reform may send the wrong message to children, but I like
to think the children themselves are more important than the message.
Opportunistic "tough on drugs" politicians would no doubt disagree.
Students who want to make a difference should contact Students for
Sensible Drug Policy at http://www.ssdp.org.

Robert Sharpe
The Lindesmith Center-Drug Policy Foundation
Washington, D.C., resident