REBUTTAL: TIME TO STOP THE CULTURE WAR ON MARIJUANA

Regarding syndicated columnist George Will's Nov. 30th column ("Be
wary of Rocky Mountain high"): The drug war is largely a war on
marijuana smokers.

In 2008, there were 847,863 marijuana arrests in the United States,
almost 90 percent for simple possession. At a time when state and
local governments are laying off police, firefighters and teachers,
this country continues to spend enormous public resources
criminalizing Americans who prefer marijuana to martinis. The end
result of this ongoing culture war is not necessarily lower rates of
use.

The United States has higher rates of marijuana use than the
Netherlands, where marijuana is legally available. Decriminalization
is a long overdue step in the right direction. Taxing and regulating
marijuana would render the drug war obsolete.

As long as organized crime controls marijuana distribution, consumers
will continue to come into contact with sellers of hard drugs like
cocaine and heroin.

This "gateway" is a direct result of marijuana prohibition.

Robert Sharpe, Policy Analyst,

Common Sense for Drug Policy,

Washington, D.C.