FLORIDA WELFARE DRUG TESTS EXPAND BIG GOVERNMENT

Regarding Carl Hiaasen's Sep. 27 column, Gov. Rick Scott's crusade to
drug-test welfare applicants is an expansion of big government for the
sake of a culture war. The most commonly abused drug and the one most
closely associated with violent behavior isn't included in drug tests.
That drug is legal alcohol, and it takes far more lives each year than
all illegal drugs combined.

The war on some drugs has given the land of the free the highest
incarceration rate in the world, while failing miserably at preventing
illicit drug use. Despite the big government approach, the U.S. has
higher rates of marijuana use than the Netherlands, where marijuana is
legally available.

Unlike alcohol, marijuana has never been shown to cause an overdose
death, nor does it share the addictive properties of tobacco. If
health outcomes determined drug laws instead of cultural norms,
marijuana would be legal. This country can no longer afford to
subsidize the prejudices of culture warriors like Gov. Scott.

Robert Sharpe

Policy Analyst, Common Sense for Drug Policy

Washington, D.C