END USELESS DRUG WAR

Regarding Jonathan Miller's Jan. 15 op-ed, the drug war is largely a
war on marijuana smokers. In 2010, there were 853,839 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

Policy Analyst,Common Sense for Drug Policy

Arlington, Va.