DRUG WAR IS COSTLY AND DOES MORE HARM THAN GOOD

Regarding your editorial published on March 11 about marijuana laws,
the drug war is largely a war on marijuana smokers.

In 2008, there
were 847,863 marijuana arrests in the U.S., 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 U.S. 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 methamphetamine and heroin. This "gateway" is a direct
result of marijuana prohibition.

Robert Sharpe

Arlington, Va.

Robert Sharpe is a policy analyst for the Washington D.C.-based
Common Sense for Drug Policy.