MARIJUANA SHOULD BE LEGAL

To the editor:

If health outcomes instead of cultural norms determined drug laws,
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 jail
cells are inappropriate as a health intervention and ineffective as a
deterrent.

The first marijuana laws were enacted in response to Mexican migration
during the early 1900s, despite opposition from the American Medical
Association.

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 U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration 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.

ROBERT SHARPE

Common Sense For Drug Policy

www.csdp.org

Washington, D.C.