MARIJUANA SHOULD JUST BE LEGAL

Regarding your Aug. 18 editorial, 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. Like any drug,
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 immigration 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 federal 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 finances 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.

The following Virginia Law Review article offers a good overview of
the cultural roots of marijuana legislation:
http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/Library/studies/vlr/vlrtoc.htm

Robert Sharpe, MPA

Policy Analyst

Common Sense for Drug Policy

Washington, DC