TIME TO TREAT MARIJUANA AS SOCIAL, NOT CRIMINAL, ISSUE

Dear Editor:

Re: Lloyd Mack's Jan. 15 column

There is a big difference between condoning marijuana use and
protecting children from drugs.

Decriminalization acknowledges the social reality of marijuana and
frees users from the stigma of life-shattering criminal records.
What's really needed is a regulated market with age controls.
Separating the hard and soft drug markets is critical. As long as
marijuana distribution remains in the hands of organized crime,
consumers will continue to come into contact with addictive drugs like
cocaine. This "gateway" is the direct result of a fundamentally flawed
policy.

In the words of Canadian Senator Pierre Claude Nolin, "Scientific
evidence overwhelmingly indicates that cannabis is substantially less
harmful than alcohol and should be treated not as a criminal issue but
as a social and public health issue."

The biggest obstacle to marijuana law reform in Canada is the U.S.
Despite evidence that punitive marijuana laws fail to deter use, the
former land of the free and current record holder in citizens
incarcerated continues to uses its superpower status to export its
failed drug policies around the globe.

The University of Michigan's Monitoring the Future Study reports that
lifetime use of marijuana is higher in the U.S. than any European
country, yet the U.S. is one of the few Western countries that uses
its criminal justice system to punish citizens who prefer marijuana to
martinis. The short-term health effects of marijuana are
inconsequential compared to the long-term effects of criminal records.

Unfortunately, marijuana represents the counterculture to misguided
reactionaries intent on legislating their version of morality. Canada
should follow the lead of Europe and Just Say No to the American
Inquisition.

The results of a comparative study of European and U.S. rates of drug
use can be found at:

http://www.monitoringthefuture.org/pubs/espad_pr.pdf

Sincerely,

Robert Sharpe, MPA

Policy Analyst

Common Sense for Drug Policy

www.drugwarfacts.org