GRASS IS GREENER ON OTHER SIDE OF THE LAW

Regarding your Jan. 5 editorial "R.I.'s marijuana law": 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. 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 inspired
homicidal rages proved 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 that
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.

ROBERT SHARPE

Washington

The writer is a policy analyst for Common Sense for Drug Policy.