Pubdate: Mon, 05 Mar 2001
Source: Sun News (SC)
Copyright: 2001 Sun Publishing Co.
Contact:  P.O. Box 406, Myrtle Beach, SC 29578-0406
Feedback: http://www.thesunnews.com/cust/editorial.htm
Website: http://www.thesunnews.com/
Author: Robert Sharpe
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n348/a08.html

MARIJUANA - REGULATE DRUG USE, BUT DON'T PROHIBIT IT

Re. Russell Sadler [story, The Sun News, Feb. 25].

What exactly did parents hope to accomplish in pushing for harsher 
penalties for the high-school president in Oregon busted for marijuana 
possession? There are better ways to protect children from drugs than 
destroying the lives of those caught with them in order to send a message. 
Drug laws destroy far more lives than drugs. And marijuana prohibition does 
far more harm than marijuana. As the most popular illicit drug, marijuana 
provides the black market contacts that introduce users to addictive drugs 
like heroin. The "gateway" status ascribed to marijuana is the direct 
result of a fundamentally flawed drug policy. There are cost-effective 
alternatives to current policy. The Netherlands has successfully reduced 
overall drug use by replacing marijuana prohibition with regulation. Dutch 
rates of drug use are significantly lower than U.S. rates in every category.

Robert Sharpe, M.P.A.

Program Officer, The Lindesmith Center-Drug Policy Foundation, Washington
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