LEGAL PROHIBITION OF MARIJUANA FAILED

The Bush administration's antagonistic stance toward marijuana is misguided
and counterproductive. A recent series of full-page ads placed by the
Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) in newspapers across the
country pleaded with parents to talk to their teens about marijuana and
repeated exaggerations and distortions about the drug.

Marijuana was first made illegal under federal law in 1937, a time when
only a small fraction of the U.S. population had ever used the drug. By
2001, some 83 million Americans - or nearly a third of the population - had
used the drug at least once. Under a prohibition regime, marijuana use has
increased by 2,000 percent.

Prohibition makes it easier for teens to obtain marijuana because drug
dealers don't ask for identification. While it's true that teens do have
limited (albeit illegal) access to alcohol and cigarettes through lax
enforcement of state liquor and tobacco laws, the complete lack of
regulation on marijuana lets teens buy it from corner drug dealers, who
don't care how old you are.

The U.S., by keeping marijuana illegal for all purposes and all people, has
missed its opportunity to rein in the criminal market. By regulating and
taxing marijuana, we could ensure that teens have less access to the drug
and corner drug dealers are put out of business.

Marijuana is bad for kids, but marijuana prohibition is worse.

William E. Wallace

Hattiesburg