MORE ON LEGAL BUD

Dear Editor,

The drug war is in large part a war on marijuana, by far the most
popular illicit drug. Punitive marijuana laws have little, if any,
deterrent value. 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.

The big losers in this battle are the taxpayers deluded into believing
big government is the appropriate response to non-traditional
consensual vices. 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 www.ssdp.org.

Sincerely,

Robert Sharpe, MPA

Common Sense for Drug Policy