MARIJUANA OR MARTINIS

Dear Editor:

Re: "One toke over the line?" editorial by Kevin Wedmark, published
Monday, July 16.

Writing under the pen name Janey Canuck in the early 1900s, an
Edmonton woman by the name of Emily Murphy first warned Canadians
about the dread reefer and its association with dark-skinned
minorities. The sensationalist yellow journalism of William Randolph
Hearst led to marijuana's criminalization in the United States.

At the time, marijuana use in North America was limited to Mexican
immigrants and black jazz musicians. Whites did not even begin to
smoke marijuana until after it was prohibited. Almost one hundred
years later, Canada lead the industrialized world in cannabis
consumption. Prohibition has been counterproductive at best.

What started as a racist reaction to Mexican immigration has since
morphed into an intergenerational culture war, with Canada's southern
neighbor leading the global charge. The war on some drugs has given
the (former) land of the free the highest incarceration rate in the world.

There is a good reason millions of people prefer marijuana to
martinis. Cannabis is easily the least harmful recreational drug
available, legal or otherwise. Medical science tells us that jail
cells are inappropriate as health interventions. History shows they
are ineffective as deterrents. It's time for Canada to Just Say No to
the American Inquisition.

The following Virginia Law Review article offers a good overview of
the cultural roots of marijuana legislation:
http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/Library/studies/vlr/vlrtoc.htm

For additional historical background please see the Canadian Senate
report: http://www.parl.gc.ca/37/1
/parlbus/commbus/senate/com-e/ille-e/rep-e/summary-e.pdf

Sincerely,

Robert Sharpe, MPA

Policy Analyst Common Sense for Drug Policy

Washington, DC