BLACK MARKET WOULD THRIVE

To the editor:

According to your Nov. 30 editorial on the Marijuana Party,
legalization would be a step too far, but decriminalizing the simple
possession of marijuana would be worth a good look by the federal
government. Such a stopgap measure would leave the thriving black
market intact.

Unlike legitimate businesses that sell alcohol, drug dealers working
the black market do not ID for age, but they do push profitable,
addictive drugs like heroin when given the chance. Sensible regulation
is desperately needed to undermine the black market and restrict
access to drugs.

Marijuana is the most popular illicit drug. Compared to toxic alcohol
and addictive tobacco, marijuana is relatively harmless. Yet
marijuana prohibition is deadly.

While there is nothing inherent in marijuana that compels users to try
harder drugs, its black market status puts users in contact with
criminals who sell 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
from drugs than the failed drug war. This harm reduction solution may
send the wrong message to children, but I like to think that the
children themselves are more important than the message.

Robert Sharpe,
Program Officer,
The Lindesmith Center-Drug Policy Foundation,
Washington, D.C.