NEEDED: REGULATED POT MARKET WITH AGE CONTROLS

To the editor: Regarding your Jan 2 editorial: There is a big difference
between condoning marijuana use and protecting children from drugs.
Decriminalization acknowledges the social reality of marijuana and frees
users from the stigma of criminal records. What's really needed is a
regulated market with age controls. Separating the hard and soft drug
markets is critical. As long as marijuana distribution remains in the
hands of organized crime, consumers will continue to come into contact
with sellers of hard drugs like heroin.

This "gateway" is the direct result of a fundamentally flawed policy.
Given that marijuana is arguably safer than legal alcohol - the plant has
never been shown to cause an overdose death - it makes no sense to waste
tax dollars on failed policies that finance organized crime and facilitate
the use of hard drugs. Drug policy reform may send the wrong message to
children, but I like to think the children are more important than the
message.

Robert Sharpe

Common Sense for Drug Policy

Washington, DC