U.S. POLICY ON POT USE NEEDS TO BE CHANGED

Re: Ryn Gargulinski's Wednesday article "Narcotics cops say Tucson's
gone to pot":

In order to properly evaluate our nation's drug policies, we need to
compare and contrast our policies with those of another nation with
substantially different drug policies. I suggest we use the Czech
Republic for comparison.

Citizens there can legally use, possess, grow or purchase small
quantities of marijuana.

In the United States, many otherwise law-abiding citizens are locked
in prison cages for possessing, growing or selling various amounts of
marijuana. The Czech overall drug arrest rate is 1 per 100,000 population.

The U. S. rate is 585 per 100,000 population.

The Czech robbery rate is 2 per 100,000. The U. S. robbery rate is
160.2 per 100,000 population, according to the FBI.

According to our drug war cheerleaders, tolerant marijuana laws cause
people to use other, much more dangerous drugs such as meth and
heroin. Obviously this doesn't happen in the Czech Republic. Could it
be that when people can legally obtain marijuana at an affordable
price, they tend not to use or desire any other recreational drugs?

Could it be that marijuana legalization actually creates a roadblock
to hard drug use rather than a gateway?

Kirk Muse

Mesa