CANADA SHOULD BE ASHAMED

Canadian marijuana activist Marc Emery is now officially a political
prisoner. ("Tinfoil hat delusion," Ian Robinson, May 16) If health
outcomes determined drug laws instead of cultural norms, marijuana
would be legal. At a time when state and local governments are laying
off police, firefighters and teachers, the U.S. is prepared to spend
a small fortune incarcerating Emery for five years. The Canadian
government should be ashamed of its role in this travesty. There is
no justification for criminalizing citizens who prefer marijuana to
martinis. Marijuana prohibition has failed. The U.S. has higher rates
of marijuana use than the Netherlands, where marijuana is legal.
Canada should just say no to the American Inquisition.

Robert Sharpe

Common Sense for Drug

Policy, Washington, D.C.

(Don't underestimate the influence of "cultural norms.")