MARIJUANA PROHIBITION FAILS TO PREVENT DRUG USE

I am writing in response to Alex Gratzer's April 2 column, "Respect
medical marijuana." 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 the age of 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

policy analyst

Common Sense for Drug Policy

Washington, D.C.