MARIJUANA PROHIBITION PERFECT EXAMPLE OF DRUG WAR FOLLIES

Dear Editor,

Not only should medical marijuana be made available to patients in
need, but adult recreational use should be regulated.

Drug policies modeled after alcohol prohibition have given rise to a
youth-oriented black market. Illegal drug dealers don't ID for age,
but they do recruit minors immune to adult sentences. So much for
protecting the children.Throwing more money at the problem is no solution.

Attempts to limit the supply of illegal drugs while demand remains
constant only increase the profitability of trafficking. For addictive
drugs like heroin, a spike in street prices leads desperate addicts to
increase criminal activity to feed desperate habits. The drug war
doesn't fight crime, it fuels crime.

Taxing and regulating marijuana, the most popular illicit drug, is a
cost-effective alternative to never-ending drug war.

As long as marijuana distribution is controlled by organized crime,
consumers will continue to come into contact with hard drugs like
methamphetamine. This "gateway" is a direct result of marijuana
prohibition.

Given that marijuana is arguably safer than 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

Washington, D.C.