DRUG WAR ABYSMAL FAILURE

Targeting rave dance parties will not protect children from drugs. 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 America's disastrous experiment with alcohol
prohibition have given rise to a youth-oriented black market. Illegal drug
dealers do not ID 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 the United
States' disastrous experiment with alcohol prohibition, consumers went
blind drinking unregulated bathtub gin. The ecstasy variant known as PMA
that has been taking the lives of youth around the world is today's version
of bathtub gin. They 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. Sensible regulation is desperately needed to undermine the
black market. As counterintuitive as it may seem, replacing marijuana
prohibition with adult regulation would do a better job protecting children
from drugs than the failed drug war.

As long as marijuana distribution remains in the hands of organized crime,
consumers of the most popular illicit drug (marijuana) will continue to
come into contact with sellers of drugs like meth.

Marijuana has never been shown to cause an overdose death and is arguably
safer than legal alcohol. It makes no sense to waste scarce resources on
failed policies that finance organized crime and facilitate the use of hard
drugs.

ROBERT SHARPE

Program Officer
The Lindesmith Center-Drug Policy Foundation
Washington, D.C.