UNJUSTIFIABLE POLICIES

Regarding Ari Armstrong's thoughtful June 10 column, the two deadliest
drugs are both legal (Re: "Demon Drugs," Liberty Beat). Alcohol kill
thousands annually, more than all illegal drugs combined. Nicotine is one
of the most addictive drugs available and by far the deadliest overall.
It's not health outcomes that determine drug laws, but rather cultural
norms. The first marijuana laws were enacted in response to Mexican
migration 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
marijuana until a soon-to-be entrenched government bureaucracy began
funding reefer madness propaganda. The sensationalist myths have long been
discredited, forcing the drug war gravy train to spend millions of tax
dollars on politicized research, trying to find harm in a relatively
harmless plant. The direct experience of millions contradicts the
outrageous claims used to justify marijuana prohibition.

Illegal drug use is the only public health issue wherein key stakeholders
are not only ignored, but actively persecuted and incarcerated. In terms of
medical marijuana, those stakeholders happen to be cancer and AIDS
patients. By raiding voter-approved providers in states with
compassionate-use laws, the very same federal government that claims
illicit drug use funds terrorism is forcing sick patients into the hands of
street dealers.

Apparently marijuana prohibition is more important than protecting the
country from terrorism.

Robert Sharpe, MPA/Policy Analyst , Common Sense for Drug Policy