OUTDOOR ERADICATION FAILS TO CURB MARIJUANA

USA TODAY's article on illegal marijuana growing on public lands
completely ignored the consensus among experts that outdoor
"eradication" efforts do little, if anything, to hinder the supply of
this drug ("80% of pot crop invades parkland," News, Sept. 12).

The Justice Department's own National Drug Threat Assessment 2008 said
the main effect of such raids isn't eradication but causes "major
marijuana producers ... to relocate indoors," namely to suburban
neighborhoods where their activities go unnoticed.

More important, the article failed to note that marijuana's
prohibition is the true cause of these dangerous and irresponsible
criminal activities.

Marijuana is by far the most widely used illicit drug in the country.
At $36 billion a year, it's the largest cash crop of the USA.

For better or for worse, a fortune can be made on marijuana, and
somebody is going to capitalize on that. Prohibition ensures that
those profits go to violent gangs, and we give up any opportunity we
might have had to control and regulate that market responsibly, as we
do with alcohol and tobacco.

If drug warriors such as John Walters, the director of the Office of
National Drug Control Policy, really wish to prevent criminals from
raping our public lands, then they should support taxing and
regulating marijuana, as we do alcohol and tobacco. After all, when
was the last time you heard about a clandestine tobacco farm in
Sequoia National

Aaron Houston

Director of Government Relations

Marijuana Policy Project

Washington