MARIJUANA

Nation's Drug Policies Are Misguided, Failing

The Sept. 6 story, "City teens use pot more than U.S. peers" failed to note
the proverbial elephant in the living room: If the goal is to discourage
teen use of marijuana, our current policies have utterly failed.

The same report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
referenced in the article also includes this alarming statistic:
Nationwide, more teens are current smokers of marijuana than of cigarettes.

At first, this seems astonishing: A substance that is completely banned is
more widely used than one that is allowed - but regulated - for adults.

In fact, prohibition encourages teen marijuana use by keeping the marijuana
trade in a completely unregulated criminal underground. Walk into just
about any store that sells cigarettes and you'll see a great big,
red-and-yellow sign saying, "We Card: Under 18, No Tobacco." Have you ever
seen a drug dealer post a sign like that?

The current unhappy state of affairs is a direct result of misguided policies.

Bruce Mirken, Director of communications, Marijuana Policy Project,
Washington, D.C.