RELATIVELY HARMLESS

According to your excellent Feb. 6 editorial, Texas prisons are filled with
non-violent drug offenders. There are cost-effective alternatives to the
politically popular zero-tolerance approach. The Netherlands spends far
less per capita on drug abuse, yet Dutch marijuana use is roughly half that
of the U.S. and hard drug use is even less.

How did the Netherlands accomplish this? By separating the hard and soft
drug markets and establishing controls for age. The U.S. could learn from
the Dutch experience. Replacing marijuana prohibition with regulation would
ultimately do a better job protecting American children from drugs than the
failed drug war.

Marijuana is the most popular illicit drug. Compared to legal alcohol,
marijuana is relatively harmless. Yet marijuana prohibition is deadly.
Although there is nothing inherent in marijuana that compels users to try
hard drugs like heroin, its black market status puts users in contact with
criminals who push them. Current drug policy is effectively a gateway
policy. Sensible regulation is desperately needed to undermine the
youth-oriented black market. Unfortunately for Americans, our leaders are
more prone to counterproductive preaching than cost-effective pragmatism.

Robert Sharpe Program Officer The Lindesmith Center-Drug Policy Foundation