POT CONCERNS SHOULD NOT BE SO

Regarding Zak Mazur's Feb. 1 column ("For pot smokers, it's just not
fair"), if health outcomes determined drug laws instead of cultural
norms, marijuana would be legal. Unlike alcohol, marijuana has never
been shown to cause an overdose death, nor does it share the addictive
properties of tobacco.

Like any drug, marijuana can be harmful if abused, but jail cells are
inappropriate as health interventions and ineffective as deterrents.
The first marijuana laws were enacted in response to Mexican migration
during the early 1900s, despite opposition from the American Medical
Association. Dire warnings that marijuana inspires homicidal rages
have been counterproductive at best.

White Americans did not even begin to smoke pot until a soon-to-be
entrenched government bureaucracy began funding reefer madness
propaganda. By raiding voter-approved medical marijuana providers in
California, the very same U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration that
claims illicit drug use funds terrorism is forcing cancer and AIDS
patients into the hands of street dealers. Apparently marijuana
prohibition is more important than protecting the country from
terrorism. 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 www.ssdp.org.

Robert Sharpe, policy analyst, Common Sense for Drug Policy
Washington, D.C.