DRUG WARRIORS GAIN LITTLE GROUND BY TARGETING MARIJUANA

This is in response to the March 20 editorial "Ill-considered
marijuana laws."The drug war is largely a war on marijuana smokers. In
2009, there were 858,405 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 result
of this culture war is not 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
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

Policy Analyst

Common Sense for Drug Policy

Washington, DC