MARIJUANA PROHIBITION A FLAWED NATIONAL POLICY

Regarding your June 9 editorial, not only should medical marijuana be
made available to patients in need, but adult recreational use should
be regulated.

Drug policies modeled after alcohol prohibition have given rise to a
youth-oriented black market.

Illegal drug dealers don't ID for age, but they do recruit minors
immune to adult sentences.

So much for protecting the children.

Taxing and regulating marijuana, the most popular illicit drug, is a
cost-effective alternative to never-ending drug war. As long as
marijuana distribution remains in the hands of organized crime,
consumers will continue to come into contact with hard drugs like
methamphetamine.

This gateway is the direct result of a fundamentally flawed
policy.

Given that marijuana is arguably safer than alcohol - the plant has
never been shown to cause an overdose death - it makes no sense to
waste scarce resources on failed policies that finance organized crime
and facilitate the use of hard drugs.

Drug policy reform may send the wrong message to children, but I like
to think the children are more important than the message.

ROBERT SHARPE

Policy Analyst
Common Sense for Drug Policy

Washington, D.C.