MARIJUANA IS NOT AS BAD AS TOBACCO

Regarding Dave Peyton's Sept. 22 column, if health outcomes
determined drug laws instead of cultural norms, marijuana would be legal.

Unlike alcohol, marijuana has never been shown to cause an overdose
death, nor does it share the addictive properties of tobacco.

Marijuana can be harmful if abused, but jail cells are inappropriate
as health interventions and ineffective as deterrents.

The first 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 pot 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 U.S. 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

Arlington, Va.

Sharpe is a policy analyst for Common Sense Drug Policy.