WAR ON DRUGS WASTES MONEY

To the Editor,

In regards to "Slocan Valley's fields of green" (NDN Monday, September 16,
2002).

The RCMP's marijuana eradication efforts are no doubt well-intended, but
ultimately counter-productive. The drug war's distortion of immutable laws
of supply and demand make an easily grown weed literally worth its weight
in gold. Canadian tax dollars are currently being wasted on anti-drug
strategies that only make marijuana growing more profitable.

The Senate recently offered a common sense alternative. After months of
research the Special Committee on Illegal Drugs 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 suspicionless drug
testing have led to a loss of civil liberties in the United States, while
failing miserably at preventing drug use.

Based on findings that criminal records are inappropriate as health
interventions and ineffective as deterrents, 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.

Unlike alcohol, marijuana has never been shown to cause an overdose death,
nor does it share the addictive properties of tobacco. The short-term
health effects of marijuana are inconsequential compared to the longterm
effects of criminal records. 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.

The results of a comparative study of European and U.S. rates of drug use
can be found at: http://www.monitoringthefuture.org/pubs/espad_pr.pdf

Robert Sharpe, M.P.A., Program Officer, Drug Policy Alliance Washington, DC
20005