ANTI-MARIJUANA PUSH IS NONSENSE

Your July 11 editorial was right on target. While local governments
are struggling with a methamphetamine epidemic, the Office of National
Drug Control Policy is spending millions on a reefer madness revisited
ad campaign. This reflects a bizarre sense of priorities.

A National Association of Counties survey found that the vast majority
of county officials report that methamphetamine is the biggest drug
problem. Local law enforcement is where the rubber meets the road.
These are the public safety professionals who deal with drug offenses
on a daily basis. And it's not marijuana that concerns them, but
rather meth.

Meanwhile, an out-of-touch federal government continues to be obsessed
with marijuana, even going so far as to prosecute terminally ill
patients who use medical marijuana. The biggest lie to come out of the
ONDCP is that new, potent strains of marijuana allegedly make pot a
far more dangerous drug. This is nonsense.

The only difference between weak and strong marijuana is that potent
marijuana requires significantly less smoke inhalation to achieve the
desired effect.

It's actually less harmful. The tax dollars wasted on the ONDCP's
misleading anti-marijuana campaign would be better spent on treatment
for methamphetamine addicts.

ROBERT SHARPE

Policy Analyst

Common Sense for Drug Policy

Washington, D.C.