REGULATED MARKET NEEDED FOR POT

Re: York public health should await details of national pot strategy,
editorial, April 17.

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 such as 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 cannabis is substantially less harmful than
alcohol and should be treated not as a criminal issue but as a social and
public health issue."

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

Robert Sharpe, Program Officer, Drug Policy Alliance, Washington, D.C.