POINTLESS DRUG WAR

To the editor:

Regarding your Friday editorial, "Vindictive prosecution": 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.

Like any drug, 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 federal 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 finances terrorism is forcing cancer and AIDS
patients to seek out street dealers. Apparently, marijuana
prohibition is more important than protecting the country from terrorism.

Robert Sharpe

WASHINGTON, D.C.

THE WRITER IS A POLICY ANALYST FOR COMMON SENSE FOR DRUG POLICY.