MARIJUANA MAY BE A BLOCKADE, NOT A GATEWAY

I'm writing about Bob Niewoehner's thoughtful letter: "Making Sense
of Medical Marijuana" [March 15].

I'd like to add that we should try and make sense of our insane
marijuana criminalization policies. There is only one country in the
world where adult citizens can legally use, possess and grow small
quantities of marijuana: The Czech Republic. (In the Netherlands,
marijuana is quasi-legal, not officially legal.) The Czech overall
drug-arrest rate is 1 per 100,000 population. The United States'
overall drug-arrest rate is 585 per 100,000 population. The Czech
robbery rate is 2 per 100,000 population. The United States' robbery
rate is 145.9 per 100,000 population, according to the FBI.

According to our drug-war cheerleaders, tolerant marijuana laws cause
people to use other, much more dangerous drugs, like meth and heroin.

Obviously, this doesn't happen in the Czech Republic. Why not? Could
it be that when people can legally obtain marijuana at an affordable
price, they tend not to use or desire any other recreational drugs?
Could it be that marijuana legalization actually creates a blockade
to hard-drug use - not a gateway?

Kirk Muse

Mesa, Ariz.