TAX AND REGULATE POT

The Inquirer is to be commended for its eminently sane examination of
Dutch marijuana policies ("Dutch take sober look at pot laws," Jan.
1). The simple fact is that U.S.-style marijuana prohibition has
failed in every conceivable way.

First, prohibition has utterly failed to curb marijuana use, as shown
by use rates that remain far higher in the United States than in the
Netherlands, despite an all-time record of 771,605 marijuana arrests
in 2004. Worse, it has given a monopoly on marijuana sales to
unlicensed, unregulated criminals.

The regulated merchants who produce and sell alcohol and cigarettes
have strong incentives to follow the rules - for example, by not
selling to kids. Go into nearly any store that sells tobacco and
you'll see a big, red-and-yellow sign saying, "Under 18, No Tobacco.
We Card." Have you ever seen a drug dealer with a sign like that?

It is time for the United States to tax and regulate marijuana.

Bruce Mirken

Director of Communications, Marijuana Policy Project

San Francisco