TO PROTECT CHILDREN, LEGALIZE MARIJUANA

Regarding the excellent Dec. 16 editorial ("Allow medical
marijuana"), the plant has been used medicinally for thousands of
years. In 1999, a government-commissioned Institute of Medicine
report concluded that there are limited circumstances in which
smoking marijuana for medical uses is recommended. Marijuana is one
of the most studied plants around. Nonetheless, entrenched interests
riding the drug war gravy train continue to claim further research is
needed.

Not only should medical marijuana be made available, but adult
recreational use should be regulated as well. The reason for this is
simple: leaving the distribution of popular recreational drugs in the
hands of organized crime puts children at great risk. The thriving
black market is very much youth oriented.

Illegal drug dealers don't ID for age, but they do push profitable,
addictive drugs like heroin. Sensible regulation is desperately
needed to undermine the black market and restrict access to drugs.

Marijuana is the most popular illicit drug. Compared to legal alcohol
and tobacco, marijuana is relatively harmless. Yet marijuana
prohibition is deadly. While there is nothing inherent in marijuana
that compels users to use harder drugs, its black market status puts
users in contact with criminals who push them. Current drug policy is
effectively a gateway policy. As counterintuitive as it may seem,
replacing marijuana prohibition with regulation would do a better job
protecting children than the failed drug war. As for medical
marijuana, doctors should decide what is best for their patients, not
drug warriors or fear-mongering politicians.