END CULTURE WAR; REGULATE, AND TAX MARIJUANA IN US

To the editor: Re: "Lot spent to stop pot" (April 10):

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 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 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, Arlington, Va.

THE WRITER is a policy analyst for Common Sense for Drug Policy.