MARIJUANA PROHIBITION 'IS DEADLY'

To the editor:

Ecstasy is the latest illegal drug to make headlines but it won't be the
last until politicians acknowledge the drug war's inherent failure.

Drug policies modeled after the United State's disastrous experiment with
alcohol prohibition have given rise to a youth-oriented black market.

Illegal drug dealers do not I.D. for age but they do push trendy,
profitable "club drugs" like ecstasy, regardless of the dangers posed.
Driving drug use underground only compounds the problem.

During alcohol prohibition consumers in the U.S. went blind drinking
unregulated bathtub gin.

The ecstasy variant, known as PMA, that has been taking young lives around
the world is today's version of bathtub gin. The overdose victims all
thought they were buying ecstasy but the black market has no controls for
quality or age.

The drug war fails miserably at its primary mandate -- protecting children
from drugs.

Taxing and regulating marijuana, the most popular illicit drug, is a
cost-effective alternative to the never-ending drug war. 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 enforceable age controls.
Right now, kids have an easier time buying pot than beer.

Separating the hard and soft drug markets is especially critical. Marijuana
may be relatively harmless compared to legal alcohol -- the plant has never
been shown to cause an overdose death -- but marijuana prohibition is deadly.

As long as marijuana distribution remains in the hands of organized crime,
consumers will continue to come into contact with harder drugs.

Robert Sharpe,

M.P.A. Program officer, Drug Policy Alliance