REFORM MARIJUANA LAW

- - To the Cigar,

Marijuana possession does indeed have consequences, hence Students for
Sensible Drug Policy's efforts to reform harmful marijuana laws. 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 criminal records are inappropriate as health
interventions are ineffective as deterrents. The University of Michigan's
Monitoring the Future Study reports that lifetime use of marijuana is
higher in the United States than any European country, yet America is one
of the few Western countries that uses its criminal justice system to
punish citizens who prefer marijuana to martinis.

The short-term health effects of marijuana are inconsequential compared to
the long-term effects of criminal records. Unfortunately, marijuana
represents the counterculture to many Americans. In subsidizing the
prejudices of culture warriors, the U.S. government is subsidizing
organized crime. The drug war's distortion of immutable laws of supply and
demand make an easily grown weed literally worth its weight in gold. The
only clear winners in the war on marijuana are drug cartels and shameless
tough-on-drugs politicians who've built careers on confusing drug
prohibition's collateral damage with a relatively harmless plant. Students
who want to help end the intergenerational culture war otherwise known as
the war on some drugs should contact Students for Sensible Drug Policy at
http://www.ssdp.org

Sincerely, Robert Sharpe

Policy Analyst

Common Sense for Drug Policy

http://www.csdp.org