LITTLE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MARIJUANA AND MARTINIS

Re: Tom Fletcher's July 4 column ('Summer in the city
anything but pretty'): For non-violent offenders with
chronic substance abuse problems, community courts are a
cost-effective alternative to incarceration. I just hope
Canada's community courts aren't misused for political
purposes the way they are here in the United States. Record
numbers of U.S. citizens arrested for marijuana possession
have been forced into treatment by the criminal justice
system. The resulting distortion of treatment statistics is
used by U.S. drug czar John Walters to make the claim that
marijuana is "addictive."

Zero-tolerance drug laws do not distinguish between occasional use and
chronic abuse. The coercion of Americans who prefer marijuana to
martinis into government treatment centres says a lot about U.S.
government priorities, but absolutely nothing about the relative harms
of marijuana. Community courts in the U.S. have unfortunately become
the latest tool of culture warriors intent on enforcing their version
of morality.

Canada should Just Say No to the American Inquisition.

The following U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration report verifies my claims regarding government
coercion: www.oas.samhsa.gov/2k2/MJtx/MJtx.htm and
www.oas.samhsa.gov/2k6/TXtrends/TXtrends.pdf.

ROBERT SHARPE

Policy analyst

Common Sense for Drug Policy

Washington, D.C.