LEGALIZING POT HELPS WITH CONTROL

Research by the group Monitoring The Future, described in recent news
reports, shows that teen marijuana use continues to rise while teen
alcohol use hits historic lows.

A taxed-and-regulated market like alcohol's ensures that anyone
selling the substance has considerable incentive to keep it out of the
hands of teens. Those who sell to underage citizens lose their license
and their profits.

The underground market provides no such protections, essentially
letting sales of marijuana to teens stay as profitable as sale to
anyone else.

A taxed-and-regulated market in marijuana could help us keep the plant
under our own control and out of the hands of our children. We can see
it's working for alcohol. Let's help it work for marijuana, too.

Mitch Earleywine, PH.D.

Professor

University at Albany

Albany