DRUG LAWS CREATE YOUTH DRUG MARKET

Parents who fear legal marijuana might want to consider that kids currently
have an easier time buying pot than beer ("Parents say legal reefer is
madness," Metropolitan, March 29). Drug policies designed to protect
children have given rise to a youth-oriented black market. Illegal drug
dealers don't check identification for age. As the most popular illicit
drug, marijuana provides the black market contacts that introduce users to
hard 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 scarce resources on policies that
finance organized crime and needlessly expose children to dangerous drugs.
As for medical marijuana, doctors should decide what's best for patients,
not Supreme Court justices.

If health outcomes determined drug laws instead of cultural norms, alcohol
would be illegal and marijuana would not.

Robert Sharpe Program, Officer, The Lindesmith Center-Drug Policy
Foundation, Washington