SUPPLY AND DEMAND

Regarding your Oct. 8 editorial "The feds' confusing crackdown,"
Mexican drug cartels are no doubt thrilled with the Obama
administration's crackdown on voter-approved medical-marijuana dispensaries.

So much for change and 2008 campaign promises to respect states'
rights. So much for jobs. The medical-marijuana industry is one of
the few job creators in the current down economy.

If Obama succeeds in destroying the domestic medical-marijuana
industry, international drug cartels will move in to meet demand and
reap the profits. This is basic economics. As long as there is a
demand for marijuana, there will be a supply. Replacing domestic
growers with organized crime groups that also sell cocaine, meth and
heroin is not a good thing. Marijuana prohibition is a gateway drug policy.

Robert Sharpe,

Common Sense for Drug Policy

Arlington, Va.