MARIJUANA PROHIBITION IS A DEADLY APPROACH

Regarding the Nov. 26 article on medical marijuana: This plant has been
used medicinally and recreationally for thousands of years. Marijuana is
one of the most studied plants around. In 1999, a federally commissioned
Institute of Medicine report concluded that there are limited circumstances
in which smoking marijuana for medical uses is recommended. Not only should
medical marijuana be made available to patients in need, 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.

Marijuana is the most popular illicit drug, and compared to legal drugs
like alcohol and tobacco, it 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 push them. 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.

As for medical marijuana, doctors should decide what is best for their
patients, not politicians, drug warriors or government bureaucrats.

Robert Sharpe, Program Officer

The Lindesmith Center-- Drug Policy Foundation

Washington, D.C.