Pubdate: Sat, 22 Mar 2014
Source: San Jose Mercury News (CA)
Copyright: 2014 San Jose Mercury News
Contact:  http://www.mercurynews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/390
Author: Robert Sharpe
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v14/n255/a08.html
Page: A15

TIME TO LEGALIZE, TAX AND REGULATE MARIJUANA

Regarding your March 17 editorial, not only should medical marijuana
be legally regulated, but so should adult recreational use. The days
when politicians can get away with confusing the drug war's tremendous
collateral damage with a comparatively harmless plant are coming to an
end. 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 U. S. 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 but throughout the nation, it's time to stop the pointless
arrests and instead tax legal marijuana.

Robert Sharpe

Policy Analyst Common Sense for Drug Policy

Washington
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MAP posted-by: Matt