ID NOT AN ISSUE WHEN BUYING MARIJUANA

Superintendent Cliff Dodson was quoted in "Drug use concerns school
officials," (AC-T, Nov.2) as stating that "the drug of choice appears to be
marijuana, probably because it's more accessible in the community. Dodson's
comments hint at the drug war's inherent failure. Unlike legitimate
businesses that sell alcohol, illegal drug dealers do not ID for age.
Although marijuana is relatively harmless compared to legal alcohol - the
plant has never been shown to cause an overdose death - marijuana
prohibition is deadly. As the most popular illicit drug, marijuana provides
the black market contacts that introduce consumers to harder drugs.
Separating the hard and soft drug markets is critical. 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. As
counterintuitive as it may seem, taxing and regulating the sale of
marijuana to adults would do a better job protecting children from drugs
than the $50 billion drug war.

Robert Sharpe,

Washington, D.C.