MARIJUANA LAWS NEED NEW FOCUS

Clearly the worst aspect of marijuana use is getting caught.
Columnist Kathleen Parker in her July 8 missive "Ending war on
marijuana would save U.S. billions" is on spot.

America needs to get a grip on the "War on Some Drugs" if we are ever
to bring peace to our streets and close the gap of disrespect between
law enforcement and citizens. The current plan does not work, no
matter how many prisons are built or the amount of money spent. We
need harm-reduction methods and we need to follow the advice of past
commissions formed to study drugs in society.

Since the 1970s, there have been more than a dozen drug policy
commissions. None recommended full legalization of drugs or viewed
any drug, including marijuana, as harmless. None called for a war on
drugs, on users or on addiction. Rather, all of the commissions
recommended gentle, humane approaches to dealing with drug users and abusers.

Policy makers haven't listened to all those drug commissions loaded
with prominent judges, politicians and corporate executives. If you
can call it representation, the drug user was represented by special
interests. No real voice from that population was considered. Will we
continue more of the same policies based on the needs of special
interests or the needs of people? Surely in a world of legal alcohol
and tobacco products, there is room for marijuana regulation.

Peter Christopher

MIDDLETOWN