EDITORIAL ACKNOWLEDGED HYPOCRISY OF WAR ON SOME DRUGS

Regarding the April 14 editorial "War on 'Oxy'": How refreshing to read an
editorial that acknowledges the hy pocrisy of the War on Some Drugs! If
health outcomes determined drug laws instead of cultural norms, marijuana
would be legal. Alcohol poisoning kills thousands annually. Marijuana, on
the other hand, has never been shown to cause an overdose death.

The first marijuana laws were a racist reaction to Mexican laborers' taking
jobs from whites during the early 1900s. These days, marijuana is confused
with '60s counterculture by Americans who would like to turn the clock back
to the 1950s. This intergenerational culture war does far more harm than
marijuana.

Drug policies designed to protect children have given rise to a
youth-oriented black market. As the most popular illicit drug, marijuana
provides the black market contacts that introduce users to hard drugs such
as heroin. This "gateway" is the direct result of a fundamentally flawed
policy. It makes no sense to waste tax dollars on failed policies that
finance organized crime and needlessly expose children to dangerous drugs.

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. Drug policy reform may send the
wrong message to children, but I like to think the children themselves are
more important than the message.

Robert Sharpe, Washington, D.C., Program officer, Lindesmith Center, Drug
Policy Foundation