CULTURE WARRIOR

Dimitri Vassilaros' May 8 column on William Bennett's hypocrisy was right
on target. As drug czar, William Bennett presided over taxpayer-funded
hypocrisy in the form of the war on some drugs. The two deadliest drugs are
both legal. Alcohol overdoses kill thousands annually, more than all
illegal drugs combined. Tobacco is one of the most addictive drugs
available and by far the deadliest overall. It's not health outcomes that
determine drug laws, but rather cultural norms. The drug war is in large
part a war against marijuana. The University of Michigan's Monitoring the
Future Study reports that lifetime use of marijuana is higher in the United
States than in any European country, yet America is one of the few Western
countries that uses its criminal justice system to punish citizens who
prefer marijuana to martinis.

Unlike alcohol, marijuana has never been shown to cause an overdose death,
nor does it share the addictive properties of tobacco. The short-term
health effects of marijuana are inconsequential compared to the long-term
effects of criminal records.

Unfortunately, marijuana represents the counterculture to reactionaries
like Bennett. In subsidizing the prejudices of culture warriors, government
is subsidizing organized crime. The drug war's distortion of immutable laws
of supply and demand make an easily grown weed literally worth its weight
in gold.

Robert Sharpe Washington, D.C. The writer is program officer for the Drug
Policy Alliance.