UNJUSTIFIABLE POLICIES

Regarding Ari Armstrong's thoughtful June 10 column, the two deadliest drugs are both legal ( Re: "Demon Drugs," Liberty Beat ).  Alcohol kill thousands annually, more than all illegal drugs combined.  Nicotine is one of the most addictive drugs available and by far the deadliest overall.  It's not health outcomes that determine drug laws, but rather cultural norms.  The first marijuana laws were enacted in response to Mexican migration during the early 1900s, despite opposition from the American Medical Association. 

Dire warnings that marijuana inspires homicidal rages have been counterproductive at best.  White Americans did not even begin to smoke marijuana until a soon-to-be entrenched government bureaucracy began funding reefer madness propaganda.  The sensationalist myths have long been discredited, forcing the drug war gravy train to spend millions of tax dollars on politicized research, trying to find harm in a relatively harmless plant.  The direct experience of millions contradicts the outrageous claims used to justify marijuana prohibition. 

Illegal drug use is the only public health issue wherein key stakeholders are not only ignored, but actively persecuted and incarcerated.  In terms of medical marijuana, those stakeholders happen to be cancer and AIDS patients.  By raiding voter-approved providers in states with compassionate-use laws, the very same federal government that claims illicit drug use funds terrorism is forcing sick patients into the hands of street dealers. 

Apparently marijuana prohibition is more important than protecting the country from terrorism. 

Robert Sharpe, MPA/Policy Analyst , Common Sense for Drug Policy