SMOKIN' LETTER

Regarding Steven Evenden's thoughtful Feb. 7 column, punitive
marijuana laws have little, if any, deterrent value. The University of
Michigan's Monitoring the Future Study reports that lifetime use of
marijuana is higher in the United States than any European country,
yet America is one of the few Western countries that uses its criminal
justice system to punish citizens who prefer marijuana to martinis.

Unlike alcohol, marijuana has never been shown to cause an overdose
death, nor does it share the addictive properties of tobacco. The
short-term health effects of marijuana are inconsequential compared to
the long-term effects of criminal records. Unfortunately, marijuana
represents the counterculture to many North Americans. In subsidizing
the prejudices of culture warriors, the U.S. government is subsidizing
organized crime. The drug war's distortion of immutable laws of supply
and demand make an easily grown weed literally worth its weight in
gold. The only clear winners in the war on marijuana are drug cartels
and shameless tough-on-drugs politicians who've built careers on
confusing drug prohibition's collateral damage with a relatively
harmless plant. The biggest obstacle to marijuana law reform in Canada
is the U.S. government. Despite clear evidence that punitive laws fail
to deter use, the former land of the free and current record holder in
citizens incarcerated uses its superpower status to export its failed
drug policies around the globe. Canada should follow the lead of
Europe and Just Say No to the American Inquisition. Students who want
to help end the intergenerational culture war otherwise known as the
war on some drugs should contact Students for Sensible Drug Policy at
HTTP://www.ssdp.org. The results of a comparative study of European and U.S.
rates of drug use can be found at:
http://www.monitoringthefuture.org/pubs/espad_pr.pdf

Robert Sharpe

MPA Policy Analyst Common Sense for Drug Policy

Arlington, VA