ILLEGAL DRUG CONSUMPTION CAN'T BE CONTROLLED UNLESS THE PUBLIC WILL IS
THERE TO SUPPORT IT

Letters to the Editor - To the editor:

Kudos to the Northern Daily News for reiterating what should be obvious to
the moral crusaders behind marijuana prohibition: consumption of illicit
drugs cannot be contained by law if the public will is not there to support it.

After months of exhaustive research the Senate's groundbreaking 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 United States, 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, 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
long-term 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.

Please feel free to edit and publish. Thank you for your consideration. 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
http://www.monitoringthefuture.org/pubs/espad_pr.pdf).

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