KIDS HAVE AN EASIER TIME PURCHASING MARIJUANA THAN BEER

RE: "TICKET pot smokers to keep courts clear," May 2. Alberta's justice
minister is right about marijuana introducing users to harder drugs. That's
precisely why it should be legalized. If marijuana had been legalized in
the 1970s, the crack epidemic of the '80s would have never happened. As the
most popular illicit drug, marijuana provides the black market connections
that introduce drug users to harder drugs. Current drug policy is, in
effect, a gateway drug policy. Marijuana's black market status puts users
in contact with unscrupulous individuals who push hard drugs. Equally
disturbing is the manner in which children have an easier time purchasing
marijuana than beer.

Robert Sharpe, Students for Sensible Drug Policy

(It's a stretch to say that legalizing pot would have stopped the crack habit.)