CANADA SHOULD FOLLOW EUROPEAN LEAD WHEN COMES TO DRUGS

To the editor:

Re: Sometimes you just have to dog it, Op Ed, Adam Mercer, Aug. 5

I hope Canada has better success with the police state approach to
public health problems like drug abuse than the U.S.

Drug-sniffing dogs and random drug testing in schools have led to a
loss of civil liberties in America, while failing miserably at
preventing drug use. The drug war is in large part a war on marijuana,
by far the most popular illicit drug. The University of Michigan's
Monitoring the Future survey reports that lifetime use of marijuana is
higher in the U.S. than any European country, yet the U.S. is one of
the few Western countries that use its criminal justice system to
punish citizens who prefer marijuana to martinis.

Despite clear evidence that punitive laws fail to deter use, the
former land of the free and current record holder in citizens
incarcerated continues to use its superpower status to export a
dangerous moral crusade around the globe. Unlike alcohol, marijuana
has never been shown to cause an overdose death, nor does it share the
addictive properties of tobacco. 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 North Americans. Canada should follow the lead
of Europe and Just Say No to the American Inquisition. The results of
a comparative study of European and U.S. rates of drug use can be
found at: http://www.monitoringthefuture.org/pubs/espad_pr.pdf

United Nations stats:
http://www.unodc.org/unodc/global_illicit_drug_trends.html

Robert Sharpe, MPA

Policy Analyst

Common Sense for Drug Policy

Washington, DC

United States of America