REGULATED MARKET NEEDED FOR MARIJUANA

Dear Editor:

There is a big difference between condoning marijuana use and
protecting children from drugs (Court ruling on drugs good news, Jan. 7).

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.

Marijuana may be relatively harmless, but marijuana prohibition is
deadly.

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.
government.

Despite clear 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. 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.

Sincerely,

Robert Sharpe, MPA Policy Analyst Common Sense for Drug Policy

Washington, DC