DANGERS CAUSED BY DRUGS LAWS

SIR - Prof Griffith Edwards, the former head of the National Addiction
Centre, is confused if he thinks that the principal argument for cannabis
legalisation is that the plant is relatively harmless (Science, March 8).
Like any drug, cannabis can be harmful if abused.

I doubt that anyone in the drug policy reform movement will deny that. It is
not the effects of cannabis that necessitate legalisation, but rather the
effects of drug laws. In the United States, children have an easier time
buying cannabis than beer.

While an American liquor store will refuse to sell alcohol to a minor to
avoid losing its licence, a drug dealer will sell to anyone. More disturbing
is the manner in which cannabis users come into contact with pushers of
harder drugs.

The black market status of cannabis puts its distribution in the hands of
organised crime. In effect, drug laws finance organised crime which, in
turn, fuels violence and corruption. America's experience with alcohol
prohibition confirms that legalisation will not only eliminate drug
law-related violence, but also make it significantly harder for children to
purchase drugs.

Finally, we have the effects of drug laws on the individual. A heavy
cannabis smoker may risk bronchitis but the health effects of bronchitis are
inconsequential compared with the long-term effects of prison stays and
criminal records. The government does not actively try and destroy the lives
of alcoholics. I fail to see why cannabis smokers should be singled out for
punishment.

Robert Sharpe,
Students for a Sensible Drug Policy,
George Washington University,
Washington