Pubdate: Mon, 06 Jan 2014
Source: Washington Post (DC)
Copyright: 2013 The Washington Post Company
Contact: http://mapinc.org/url/mUgeOPdZ
Website: http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/491
Author: Paul Armentano
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v14/n010/a05.html

THE RISKS AND REWARDS OF POT'S NEW STATUS

Regarding Ruth Marcus's Jan. 3 Washington Forum column "This weed 
should be yanked out":

Adolescents' consumption of alcohol and tobacco is at historic lows. 
These results have been achieved not by criminalizing these 
substances for adults, but by legalization, common-sense regulation 
and public education. Lawmakers in Colorado (and soon, Washington 
state) are applying these tried-and-true principles to cannabis.

We should welcome the arrival of these necessary and long-overdue 
controls to the cannabis market. A pragmatic regulatory framework 
that allows for the legal, licensed commercial production and retail 
sale of cannabis to adults but restricts its use among young people - 
coupled with a legal environment that fosters open, honest dialogue 
between parents and children about cannabis's potential harms - best 
reduces the risks associated with the plant's use or abuse. The 
ongoing criminalization of cannabis only compounds these risks.

Paul Armentano

Washington
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom