DECRIMINALIZING MARIJUANA WOULD SAVE PUBLIC RESOURCES

Regarding Carl Mumpower's column "The war on illegal drugs has to be
won at home," (AC-T, Dec. 19), the drug war is largely a war on
marijuana smokers. In 2009, there were 858,405 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
necessarily 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.

Robert Sharpe, Arlington, Va.

Sharpe is an analyst with Common Sense for Drug Policy.