Pubdate: Tue, 25 Feb 2014
Source: Deseret News (Salt Lake City, UT)
Copyright: 2014 Deseret News Publishing Corp.
Contact:  http://www.deseretnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/124
Author: Robert Sharpe

NO BASIS IN SCIENCE

The drug war distorts supply and demand dynamics so that big money 
grows on little trees. If the goal is to deter use, marijuana 
prohibition is a catastrophic failure. Like any drug, marijuana can 
be harmful if abused. Marijuana prohibition doesn't make the plant 
any safer, in fact prohibition opens up a gateway to hard drugs by 
granting a monopoly on marijuana distribution to drug cartels that 
also sell meth, cocaine and heroin. If the goal of marijuana 
prohibition is to subsidize violent drug cartels, prohibition is a 
grand success.

The drug war distorts supply and demand dynamics so that big money 
grows on little trees. If the goal is to deter use, marijuana 
prohibition is a catastrophic failure. The United States has almost 
double the rate of marijuana use as the Netherlands where marijuana is legal.

The criminalization of Americans who prefer marijuana to martinis has 
no basis in science. The war on marijuana consumers is a failed 
cultural inquisition, not an evidence-based public health campaign. 
Not just in Colorado and Washington state, but throughout the nation, 
it's time to stop the pointless arrests and instead tax legal marijuana.

Robert Sharpe

Washington, D.C
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom