DON'T PROTECT US

Regarding Jim Greig's thoughtful May 3 op-ed, if health outcomes
determined drug laws instead of cultural norms, marijuana would be
legal. Unlike alcohol, marijuana has never been shown to cause an
overdose death, nor does it share the addictive properties of tobacco.

Like any drug, marijuana can be harmful if abused, but jail cells are
inappropriate as health interventions and ineffective as deterrents.
The first marijuana laws were enacted in response to Mexican
migration during the early 1900s, despite opposition from the
American Medical Association.

Dire warnings that marijuana inspires homicidal rages have been
counterproductive at best.

White Americans did not even begin to smoke pot until a soon-to-be
entrenched government bureaucracy began funding reefer madness
propaganda. By raiding medical marijuana providers in states with
compassionate-use laws, the very same Bush administration that claims
illicit drug use funds terrorism is forcing cancer and AIDS patients
into the hands of street dealers. Apparently marijuana prohibition is
more important than protecting the country from terrorism.

Robert Sharpe, MPA

Common Sense For Drug Policy, Washington, D.C.