MARIJUANA PLANT PROHIBITION'S RACIST ROOTS

To the Editor:

Kevin Conner is to be commended for exposing the racist roots of
marijuana prohibition in his Feb. 18 article. If health outcomes
determined drug laws instead of cultural norms, marijuana would be
legal. Unlike alcohol, marijuana has never been shown to cause an
overdose death, nor does it share the addictive properties of tobacco.
Marijuana can be harmful if abused, but jail cells are inappropriate
as health interventions and ineffective as deterrents. The first
marijuana laws were enacted in response to Mexican immigration during
the early 1900s, despite opposition from the American Medical
Association. Dire warnings that marijuana inspires homicidal rages
have been counterproductive at best. White Americans did not even
begin to smoke pot until a soon-to-be entrenched government
bureaucracy began funding reefer madness propaganda. By raiding
voter-approved medical marijuana providers in California, the very
same U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration that claims illicit drug use
funds terrorism is forcing cancer and AIDS patients into the hands of
street dealers. Apparently marijuana prohibition is more important
than protecting the country from terrorism. Students who want to help
end the intergenerational culture war, otherwise known as the war on
some drugs, should contact Students for Sensible Drug Policy at
www.SchoolsNotPrisons.com. The following Virginia Law Review article
offers a good overview of the cultural roots of marijuana legislation:
http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/Library/studies/vlr/vlrtoc.htm.

Robert Sharpe,

MPA Policy Analyst Common Sense for Drug Policy