LEGALIZING MARIJUANA STEP IN RIGHT DIRECTION

Regarding Sam Contakos' column, "New year brings new round in fight to
keep marijuana illegal," Jan. 17. 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 officers, 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
use.

The U.S. has higher rates of marijuana use than the Netherlands, where
marijuana is legally available. Decriminalization is a long overdue
step in the right direction.

Taxing and regulating marijuana would render the drug war obsolete. As
long as organized crime controls marijuana distribution, consumers
will continue to come into contact with sellers of hard drugs such as
cocaine and heroin. This "gateway" is a direct result of marijuana
prohibition.

Please go to the following Web sites:

* www.unodc.org

* www.monitoringthefuture.org/pubs/espad_pr.pdf

* www.drugwarfacts.org/thenethe.htm

* www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/node/53

Robert Sharpe

Policy analyst, common sense for drug policy