Fight hard drugs, not marijuana | Letter

Organized crime derives about 50 of its income from smuggling and distributing marijuana. We spent $15 billion on drug wars in 2010, of which over $7 billion is spent annually to arrest and prosecute nearly 800,000 people for marijuana offenses (2005 FBI estimate). In spite of this, about 85 percent of high school seniors in the US find marijuana “easy to obtain.” This figure has not changed in the last 10 years. But the use of cocaine and other hard drugs has actually declined during the same period. There is no good evidence that marijuana is a “gateway drug.”

November 16, 2011 2:38 pm

Organized crime derives about 50 of its income from smuggling and distributing marijuana. We spent $15 billion on drug wars in 2010, of which over $7 billion is spent annually to arrest and prosecute nearly 800,000 people for marijuana offenses (2005 FBI estimate).  In spite of this, about 85 percent of high school seniors in the US find marijuana “easy to obtain.” This figure has not changed in the last 10 years. But the use of cocaine and other hard drugs has actually declined during the same period.  There is no good evidence that marijuana is a “gateway drug.”

I think we should concentrate on fighting the very real threat from substances like meth, crack cocaine and heroin, which have the potential to turn people into slaves to support their addiction. Offering treatments is essential for this. At the same time we should change the laws about marijuana. By doing so we would cut off half the income of organized crime.

To those who oppose this change, I ask: are you really so determined to protect the income of vicious organized criminal gangs for an ineffective program with no proven benefits?

Richard Steinhardt

Deer Harbor