Regarding George Reed’s Nov. 7 column, the drug war is largely a war on marijuana smokers. In 2010, there were 853,839 marijuana arrests in the U.S., almost 90 percent for simple possession. At a time when state and local governments are laying off police, firefighters and teachers, this country continues to spend enormous public resources criminalizing Americans who prefer marijuana to martinis. The end result of this ongoing culture war is not lower rates of use.
The U.S. has higher rates of marijuana use than the Netherlands, where marijuana is legally available. Decriminalization is a long overdue step in the right direction. Taxing and regulating marijuana would render the drug war obsolete. As long as organized crime controls distribution, marijuana consumers will come into contact with sellers of hard drugs like methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin. This “gateway” is a direct result of marijuana prohibition.
Check out the July 2008 World Health Organization survey study on drug use rates at plosmedicine.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pmed.0050141.
For United Nations drug stats, visit unodc.org/.
For a comparative analysis of U.S. vs. Dutch rates of drug use, visit drugwarfacts.org/cms/Netherlands_v_US.
For marijuana arrest stats, visit drugwarfacts.org/cms/Marijuana#Total.
Robert Sharpe, Common Sense for Drug Policy, Washington, D.C.
Former and present Prohibitionists shall not be allowed to remain untainted and untouched by the unconscionable acts that they have viciously committed on their fellow citizens. They have provided us with neither safe communities nor safe streets. We will provide them with neither a safe haven to enjoy their ill-gotten gains nor the liberty to repeat such a similar atrocity.