DRUG WAR SUCH A THREAT

To the editor:

I enjoyed reading Dave Treadwell's column (July 12, "Ten lashes with a wet
noodle!") on the bizarre priorities of this country's criminal justice
system: a slap on the wrist for corporate executives who steal millions;
zero tolerance for marijuana smokers. Based on findings that criminal
records are inappropriate as health interventions and ineffective as
deterrents, a majority of European Union countries have decriminalized pot.

Despite marijuana prohibition and perhaps because of forbidden-fruit
appeal, lifetime use of marijuana is higher in the United States than any
European country. America is one of the few Western countries that uses its
criminal justice system to punish citizens who prefer marijuana to
martinis. 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 forcibly imposing their version of morality. This
country cannot afford to continue subsidizing the prejudices of culture
warriors.

The failed drug war threatens the integrity of a country founded on the
concept of limited government. The United States now has the highest
incarceration rate in the world, in large part due to the war on some
drugs. At an average cost of $25,071 per inmate annually, maintaining the
world's largest prison system can hardly be considered fiscally
conservative. It's not possible to wage a moralistic war against consensual
vices unless privacy is completely eliminated, along with the Constitution.
America can either be a free country or a "drug-free" country, but not both.

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

Robert Sharpe

Drug Policy Alliance

www.drugpolicy.org