IN HEMP WE TRUST

The U.S. is one of the few countries in the world that deny farmers
the right to grow industrial hemp [Matt Coker's "A Friend in Weed,"
Nov. 3]. Apparently government bureaucrats in Washington can't tell
the difference between a tall hemp stalk and a short marijuana bush.
Prior to the passage of the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937, few Americans
had heard of marijuana, despite widespread cultivation of its
non-intoxicating cousin, industrial hemp. The first anti-marijuana
laws were enacted in response to Mexican migration 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 marijuana 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 federal 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.

Robert Sharpe, MPA

Policy Analyst, Common Sense for Drug Policy

Washington, DC