GOVERNMENT CARRIES OUT MISGUIDED POLICY REGARDING MARIJUANA

Regarding Greg Bean's May 16 column, 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. 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 migration
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 government
bureaucracy began funding reefer madness propaganda.

By raiding voter-approved medical marijuana providers in California,
the very same Bush administration that claims illicit drug use funds
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.

Robert Sharpe

policy analyst

Common Sense for Drug Policy

Washington, D.C.