TAKE ANOTHER LOOK AT POT PROHIBITION

Earlier this year, Webster Alexander was sentenced to 26 years in prison
for selling four ounces of marijuana to an undercover police officer over
the course of a month. He was no "drug kingpin"-the officer had to drive
him to make the buys. He is now 19 years old.

The offenses took place while Alexander was still in high school. Between
then and his sentencing, Alexander graduated from high school, began
community college and got a part-time job as a bricklayer. Now he's looking
at 26 years in an Alabama prison with murderers and rapists who will likely
be out long before him.

Who is served by this sentence?

Certainly not the public. Studies have shown that marijuana usage remains
unaffected by the criminal penalties attached to its use. And we will now
be footing the bill for his incarceration.

Certainly not his family. For all the talk about how drugs destroy
families, the only thing tearing this family apart is a 26-year sentence.

Certainly not him. He was on his way to a better life. But now, he will be
returned to society a convicted felon (we all know how good that looks on a
job application) and ineligible for financial aid to finish his college degree.

Timothy Coffman is also in prison in Alabama. His crime? Possession of a
single joint. His sentence? Fifteen years.

In California, "three strikes" laws have locked up more people for
marijuana possession than for murder, rape and assault combined.

In Montana, possession of a single plant can get you a life sentence.

In an age when 35 percent of adults admit to having tried marijuana, it
seems remarkably unjust to enforce such stiff penalties for use of a drug
less harmful to individuals and to society than alcohol or tobacco. That's
why the American Medical Association recommends decriminalization of
marijuana. The governor of New Mexico goes even further; he wants outright
legalization.

Whatever the outcome of this ongoing debate, one thing is clear: the
current laws are unjust and more harmful than the drug itself.

Clearly, it is time for a change.