LEGALIZE MARIJUANA

Few Americans realize that the United States may soon be one the few
Western countries that uses its criminal justice system to punish otherwise
law-abiding citizens who prefer marijuana to martinis. Evidence of the U.S.
government's reefer madness is best exemplified by the kangaroo court trial
of Ed Rosenthal ["Federal Courts Ignore Legitimate Uses of Pot,"
Viewpoints, Feb. 11].

By denying an officer of the City of Oakland the ability to use
California's medical marijuana law and the U.S. Constitution's
10th-Amendment protection of states' rights as a defense, the judge foisted
a predetermined guilty verdict onto a grossly misinformed jury. The Drug
Enforcement Administration's shameful paramilitary raids on voter-approved
medical marijuana providers in California says a lot about U.S. government
priorities. The very same federal government 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

Editor's Note: The writer is program officer of the Drug Policy Alliance.
Washington, D.C.