Regarding Ryan Bullen’s Nov. 11 column, the drug war is largely a war on marijuana, by far the most popular illicit drug. The days when fear-mongering politicians can get away with deliberately 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 United States has 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 Washington and Colorado but throughout the nation, it’s time to stop the pointless arrests and instead tax legal marijuana. Students who want to help end marijuana prohibition should contact Students for Sensible Drug Policy at www.SchoolsNotPrisons.com.
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