PROPAGANDA AND POT

Regarding Thomas Elias's Aug. 12 column, ("Medical pot harassment
aids illicit use") 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 jail cells are inappropriate as health interventions and
ineffective as deterrents.

The first marijuana laws were enacted in response to Mexican
immigration 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.

The following Virginia Law Review article offers a good overview of
the cultural roots of marijuana legislation:
www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/Library/studies/vlr/vlrtoc.htm

Robert Sharpe

Common Sense for Drug Policy

Washington, DC