LEGALIZING MARIJUANA IS BEST POSSIBLE CURE

Regarding "End delays for medical marijuana" (Editorials, July 31) on
New Jersey's stalled medical marijuana program:

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 result of this ongoing culture war is not
necessarily lower rates of usage.

The U.S. has higher rates of marijuana use than the Netherlands, where
marijuana is legally available. Decriminalization is long overdue.
Taxing and regulating marijuana would render the drug war obsolete.

As long as organized crime controls distribution, marijuana consumers
will come into contact with sellers of hard drugs like
methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin. This "gateway" is a direct result
of marijuana prohibition.

Robert Sharpe

Washington, D.C.

The writer is a policy analyst for Common Sense for Drug Policy, an
advocacy group.