WASTE OF TAX DOLLARS

To the Editor:

According to an Aug. 17th article, marijuana eradication efforts covering
Colbert, Franklin and Lauderdale counties netted 1,000 plants.

There is a reason some local residents have turned to illicit marijuana
cultivation to make ends meet. The drug war's distortion of immutable laws
of supply and demand make an easily grown weed literally worth its weight
in gold.

Eradication efforts are tantamount to a taxpayer-funded price supports for
organized crime. Eliminating a local cottage industry only to have it
replaced by international drug cartels that also sell cocaine, heroin and
methamphetamine is not necessarily a good thing.

Taxing and regulating marijuana, the most popular illicit drug, is a
cost-effective alternative to the $50 billion drug war.

There is a big difference between condoning marijuana use and protecting
children from drugs. Decriminalization acknowledges the social reality of
marijuana use and frees users from the stigma of life-shattering criminal
records.

What's really needed is a regulated market with age controls. Separating
the hard and soft drug markets is critical. As long as marijuana
distribution remains in the hands of organized crime, consumers will
continue to come into contact with addictive drugs like methamphetamine.
Given that marijuana is arguably safer than legal alcohol -- the plant has
never been shown to cause an overdose death -- it makes no sense to waste
tax dollars on failed policies that finance organized crime and facilitate
the use of hard drugs.

Drug policy reform may send the wrong message to children, but I like to
think the children themselves are more important than the message.

Robert Sharpe
Drug Policy Alliance
Washington, D.C.