TAXPAYERS BIG LOSERS IN DRUG WAR

Dear Editor:

Regarding Matthew J. Rhein's April 20th article, the drug war is
largely a war on marijuana, by far the most popular illicit drug.
Marijuana prohibition has done little other than burden millions of
otherwise law-abiding citizens with criminal records. The University
of Michigan's "Monitoring the Future" study reports that lifetime use
of marijuana is higher in the United States than any European
country, yet America is one of the few Western countries that uses
its criminal justice system to punish citizens who prefer marijuana
to martinis. The short-term health effects of marijuana are
inconsequential compared to the long-term effects of criminal
records. Unfortunately, marijuana represents the counterculture to
many Americans.

In subsidizing the prejudices of culture warriors, government is
subsidizing organized crime. The drug war's distortion of immutable
laws of supply and demand make an easily grown weed literally worth
its weight in gold. The only clear winners in the war on marijuana
are drug cartels and shameless tough-on-drugs politicians who've
built careers confusing drug prohibition's collateral damage with a
relatively harmless plant. The big losers in this battle are the
American taxpayers who have been deluded into believing big
government is the appropriate response to non-traditional consensual
vices. 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.ssdp.org.

Sincerely, Robert Sharpe

Policy Analyst, Common Sense for Drug Policy

www.csdp.org

Washington, DC