Pubdate: Thu, 20 Nov 2014
Source: North Coast Journal (Arcata, CA)
Copyright: 2014 North Coast Journal
Contact:  http://www.northcoastjournal.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2833
Authors: Robert Sharpe
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v14/n876/a07.html

NO GOING BACK

Regarding Thadeus Greenson and Grant Scott-Goforth's Nov. 13 column 
("Legalized It"), 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. Marijuana 
prohibition is indefensible. If the goal of marijuana prohibition is 
to subsidize violent drug cartels and open a gateway to the hard 
drugs they sell, 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 has been legally 
available for decades. 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. 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