MARIJUANA NEEDS TO BE REGULATED

Dear Editor:

How should Leduc respond to the growing use of methamphetamine? Here in the
United States, New York City chose the zero tolerance approach during the
crack epidemic of the 1980s. Meanwhile, Washington, D.C., Mayor Marion
Barry was smoking crack and the U.S. capital had the highest per-capita
murder rate in the country. Yet crack use declined in both cities
simultaneously.

The decline was not due to anti-drug advertising or the passage of
mandatory minimum sentencing laws. Simply put, the younger generation saw
first hand what crack was doing to their older siblings. This is not to say
that nothing can be done about methamphetamine. Access to drug treatment is
critical for the current generation of addicts.

In order to protect future generations from drugs like meth, policymakers
need to adopt the Canadian Senate's common sense recommendations regarding
marijuana. In the words of 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."

Taxing and regulating marijuana is a cost-effective alternative to the
never-ending drug war. As long as marijuana distribution remains in the
hands of organized crime, consumers will continue to come into contact with
hard drugs like meth. This "gateway" is the direct result of a
fundamentally flawed policy. Drug policy reform may send the wrong message
to children, but I like to think the children are more important than the
message.

Robert Sharpe, M.P.A. Program Officer, Drug Policy Alliance,
www.drugpolicy.org, Washington, D.C.