HISTORICALLY, PROPAGANDA PROMPTED WEED USAGE

Dear Editor,

Regarding Sara Conn's Friday column ("What are the pros and cons of
Mary Jane being legal in California?"), 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 immigration 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 federal bureaucracy began
funding reefer madness propaganda. Marijuana prohibition has failed
miserably as a deterrent. The U.S. has higher rates of marijuana use
than the Netherlands, where marijuana is legally available to adults
over 18. Students who want to help end the intergenerational culture
war otherwise known as the war on some drugs should contact Students
for Sensible Drug Policy at www.SchoolsNotPrisons.com.

Robert Sharpe Common Sense for Drug Policy, policy analyst Washington, D.C.