MARIJUANA - REGULATE DRUG USE, BUT DON'T PROHIBIT IT

Re. Russell Sadler [story, The Sun News, Feb. 25].

What exactly did parents hope to accomplish in pushing for harsher
penalties for the high-school president in Oregon busted for marijuana
possession? There are better ways to protect children from drugs than
destroying the lives of those caught with them in order to send a message.
Drug laws destroy far more lives than drugs. And marijuana prohibition does
far more harm than marijuana. As the most popular illicit drug, marijuana
provides the black market contacts that introduce users to addictive drugs
like heroin. The "gateway" status ascribed to marijuana is the direct
result of a fundamentally flawed drug policy. There are cost-effective
alternatives to current policy. 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.

Robert Sharpe, M.P.A.

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