LEGALIZE POT, AND HEROIN TOO

Re: Legislators, media more addled than the potheads (Editor's Desk, Sept. 18).

Tom Fletcher's column was right on target. Canadian tax dollars are
currently being wasted on anti-drug strategies that only make
marijuana growing more profitable. In 2002, Canada's Senate offered a
common sense alternative when the Special Committee on Illegal Drugs
concluded that marijuana is relatively benign, marijuana prohibition
contributes to organized crime, and law enforcement efforts have
little impact on patterns of use.

Consider the experience of Canada's southern neighbour, the former
land of the free and current record holder in citizens incarcerated.
Based on findings that criminal records are inappropriate as health
interventions, a majority of European Union countries have
decriminalized marijuana. Despite marijuana prohibition, lifetime use
of marijuana is higher in the U.S. than any European country.

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. In
subsidizing the prejudices of culture warriors, government is
subsidizing organized crime. 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

Robert Sharpe,

Policy Analyst Common Sense for Drug Policy,

Washington, D.C. www.csdp.org