OTT WAS RIGHT

Dear Editor,

KUDOS TO SCOTT PIATKOWSKI FOR AN EXCELLENT FEB. 12TH COLUMN. LOST IN
the debate over marijuana is the ugly truth behind marijuana
prohibition. North America's marijuana laws are based on culture and
xenophobia, not science. The first marijuana laws were a racist
reaction to Mexican migration during the early 1900s.

An Edmonton woman writing under the pen name Janey Canuck first warned
Canadians about the dread reefer and its association with non-white
immigrants. The sensationalist yellow journalism of William Randolph
Hearst led to its criminalization in the U.S.

Dire warnings that marijuana inspires homicidal rages have been
counterproductive at best. Whites did not even begin to smoke
marijuana until a soon-to-be entrenched government bureaucracy began
funding reefer madness propaganda. When threatened, the drug war gravy
train predictably decries the "message" that drug policy reform sends
to children. There is a big difference between condoning marijuana use
and protecting children from drugs.

Decriminalization acknowledges the social reality of marijuana and
frees users from the stigma of criminal records. What's really needed
is a regulated market with age controls. Separating the hard and soft
drug markets is critical.

As long as marijuana distribution remains in the hands of organized
crime, consumers will continue to come into contact with addictive
drugs like cocaine. This "gateway" is the direct result of a
fundamentally flawed policy. Given that marijuana is arguably safer
than legal alcohol--the plant has never been shown to cause an overdose
death--it makes no sense to waste resources on failed policies that
finance organized crime and facilitate hard drug use.

For additional historical background please see the Canadian Senate
report:

http://www.parl.gc.ca/37/1/parlbus/commbus/senate/com-e/ille-e/rep-e/summary-e.pdf.

Historical background on U.S. laws can be found at:

http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/Library/studies/vlr/vlrtoc.htm.

Sincerely,

Robert Sharpe, MPA

Policy Analyst

Common Sense for Drug Policy

www.drugwarfacts.org

P.O. Box 59181

Washington, DC 20012