REFORM MARIJUANA POLICY

To the editor:

Regarding your May 18 editorial on the languishing Liberal legislative agenda, there is a big difference between condoning marijuana use and protecting children from drugs.  The Liberal decriminalization bill acknowledges the social reality of marijuana use and frees users from the stigma of life-shattering criminal records.  What's really needed is a regulated market with age controls.  Separating the hard and soft drug markets is critical.

As long as marijuana distribution remains in the hands of organized crime, consumers will continue to come into contact with sellers of hard drugs like cocaine.  This "gateway" is the direct result of a fundamentally flawed policy.  Given that marijuana is arguably safer than legal alcohol, it makes no sense to waste limited law-enforcement resources on failed marijuana policies that finance organized crime and facilitate the use of hard drugs.  Drug policy reform may send the wrong message to children, but I like to think the children are more important than the message.

Robert Sharpe, MPA

Policy analyst

Common Sense for Drug Policy

Washington, www.csdp.org