LEGALIZATION IS BEST CURE

Regarding "Delay is more smoke" (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 United States, 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 end result of this ongoing culture war is
not necessarily lower rates of usage.

The United States 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., Aug. 4

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