DRUG LAWS HARMFUL

Editor,

Your Sept. 19 editorial on the Senate's proposal to end marijuana makes the
mistake of assuming that punitive marijuana laws actually deter use. After
months of research, the Senate concluded that marijuana is relatively
benign, marijuana prohibition contributes to organized crime, and law
enforcement efforts have little impact on patterns of use.

Consider the experience of the former land of the free and current record
holder in citizens incarcerated. The steady rise in police searches on
public transit, drug-sniffing dogs in schools, and random drug testing have
led to a loss of civil liberties in the United States, while failing
miserably at preventing drug marijuana.

Based on findings that criminal records are inappropriate as health
interventions, a majority of European Union countries have decriminalized
marijuana. Despite marijuana prohibition, and perhaps because of forbidden
fruit appeal, lifetime use of marijuana is higher in the U.S. than any
European country.

The latest drug war fiasco to come out of the U.S. is 'compassionate
coercion.' This expansion of zero tolerance does not distinguish between
occasional use and chronic abuse. Jail sentences and open-ended drug
testing are applied exclusively to consumers of non-traditional drugs like
marijuana. Alcoholics and tobacco smokers need not fear President George W.
Bush's legendary "compassion." Unlike alcohol, marijuana has never been
shown to cause an overdose death, nor does it share the addictive
properties of tobacco. Unfortunately, marijuana represents the
counterculture to misguided reactionaries intent on legislating their
version of morality.

Canada should follow the lead of Europe and Just Say No to the American
Inquisition.

Robert Sharpe, program officer, Drug Policy Alliance, Washington, D.C.