DRUG WAR IS A LEGACY OF FAILURE

Joyce Nalepka, in her letter "Anti-marijuana editorial lauded" of
April 9, says nothing to defend her notorious prohibitionist stance.

Nalepka (nor the Foster's editors who wrote the editorial she
responded to) cannot actually defend the prohibition to which she
(they) subscribes. Our war On (some) drugs -- Prohibition II -- is the
longest running fraud ever perpetrated by our government upon us and
your foolishness is part of it.

Cannabis is medicine:

-- It is, as stated in 1988 in the words of DEA administrative law
judge, Francis Young, "one of the safest therapeutic substances known
to man."

-- It is available as a whole cannabis extract, Sativex, produced by
GW Pharmaceuticals which is the only medicine approved in Canada for
the treatment of peripheral neuropathy in multiple sclerosis patients.

-- It is provided, as medicine by the United States government to the
five remaining patients enrolled in the Compassionate Investigational
New Drug Program, with tins of pre-rolled marijuana cigarettes.

-- It has been proven effective in treating a myriad of conditions
including some evidence as a treatment against cancer.

If, in 70 years, prohibition has failed so dramatically (pot is now
the number one agricultural crop in the U.S.) on the pot issue alone,
how badly has it done in other drug policy arenas? Lets dare not look
at our prisons and see how the war on (some) drugs' racist enforcement
shows that we imprison black American males at a rate five times
higher than did South Africa during apartheid.

For prohibitionists there is no high horse to ride, just a legacy of
failure.

Allan Erickson

Drug Policy Forum

Eugene, Oregon