MARIJUANA LAWS TAKE THE WRONG APPROACH

David Broder's Nov. 9 column on the recent U.S. Drug Enforcement
Administration raid on a California medical marijuana club highlighted the
absurdity of waging a $50 billion war on consensual vices at a time when the
country faces the all too real threat of international terrorism.

Not only should medical marijuana be made available to cancer and AIDS
patients in need, but adult recreational use should be taxed and regulated.
There is a big difference between condoning marijuana use and protecting
children from drugs. 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.

More disturbing is the manner in which marijuana's black market status
exposes users to sellers of hard drugs. Marijuana may be relatively harmless
compared to legal alcohol - the plant has never been shown to cause an
overdose death - but marijuana prohibition is quite deadly. As long as
marijuana distribution remains in the hands of organized crime, consumers
will continue to come into contact with hard drugs like meth and cocaine.

Taxing and regulating the sale of marijuana to adults is a cost-effective
alternative to the failed drug war. In Europe, the Netherlands has
successfully reduced overall drug use by replacing marijuana prohibition
with adult regulation. Dutch rates of drug use are significantly lower than
U.S. rates in every category. Separating the hard and soft drug markets and
establishing enforceable age controls for marijuana has proven more
effective than zero tolerance. A dated comparison of Dutch vs. American
rates of drug use can be found at: (
http://www.netherlands-embassy.org/c_drugstat.html ) More recent figures can
be found at: ( http://www.drugwarfacts.org/thenethe.htm ).

Robert Sharpe, The Lindesmith Center-Drug Policy Foundation

Washington, D.C.