REEFER POLICY OUT OF WHACK

If health outcomes deter-mined 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 during the early 1900s, despite
opposition from the AMA. 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 [DEA] 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 should contact Students for Sensible
Drug Policy at a www.SchoolsNotPrisons.com.

Robert Sharpe,

MPA Policy Analyst,

Common Sense for Drug Policy,

Washington, D.C.