REEFER MADNESS PROPAGANDA SPURRED WHITES' USE OF DRUG

Pat Rocchio's thoughtful Feb. 10 column asked why alcohol is legal but
marijuana is not. Hint: it has nothing to do with health outcomes.

Unlike alcohol, marijuana has never been shown to cause an overdose death,
nor does it share the addictive properties of nicotine.

Like any drug, marijuana can be harmful if abused, but jail sentences and
criminal records are hardly appropriate health interventions. Prior to the
passage of the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937, few Americans had heard of
marijuana, despite widespread cultivation of its non-intoxicating cousin,
industrial hemp. The first marijuana laws were a racist reaction to Mexican
migration. Sensationalist headlines claimed minorities committed violent
acts while under the drug's influence.

Ironically, whites did not even begin smoking pot until a soon-to-be
entrenched government bureaucracy began funding reefer madness propaganda.

The intergenerational culture war otherwise known as the war on some drugs
is causing tremendous societal harm, while failing miserably at preventing
drug use. What's really needed is a regulated market with enforceable age
controls.

Robert Sharpe Program officer,
Drug Policy Alliance,
Washington, D.C.