POT LAWS DON'T WORK

Survey results released this week by the National Center on Addiction and
Substance Abuse - showing, among other things, that teens say marijuana is
easier to buy than beer - are not new and not a surprise ["Survey: Teens
Say Pot Easy to Find," News, Aug. 21].

NCASA has been reporting similar results for years, as has the
government-funded Monitoring the Future survey of teen drug use: Every year
since that survey began, between 83 and 90 percent of high school seniors
have reported that marijuana is "fairly easy" or "very easy" to get.

These numbers have remained virtually unchanged, despite a near- tripling
of marijuana arrests since 1991 and waves of "just say no" propaganda. In
the Netherlands, where marijuana is sold openly through regulated outlets,
surveys of 10th graders show rates of marijuana use one-third lower than
here. Perhaps it is time to consider the possibility that marijuana
prohibition - which has created an underground market - is not the best way
to curb marijuana use by young people.

Bruce Mirken

Editor's Note: The writer is director of communications for the Marijuana
Policy Project. Washington