Letter: Zero tolerance isn’t working

Thursday, May 10, 2001 | 8:30 a.m.

Regarding Assembly Bill 453, which would authorize medical use of marijuana and decriminalize possession of small amounts of pot, the proposed legislation does nothing to undermine the black market or provide Nevada's medical marijuana patients with a supply. There is a big difference between condoning marijuana use and protecting children from drugs. Needless to say, the thriving black market has no age controls that work to keep drugs out of the hands of children.

The Netherlands has successfully reduced overall drug use by replacing marijuana prohibition with regulation. Dutch rates of drug use are significantly lower than U.S. rates in every category. Separating the hard and soft drug markets and establishing age controls for marijuana have proven more effective than zero tolerance.

Here in the United States, illegal marijuana provides the black market contacts that introduce users to drugs like heroin. This "gateway" is the direct result of a fundamentally flawed policy. Given that marijuana is arguably safer than legal alcohol -- the plant has never been shown to cause an overdose death -- it makes no sense to waste tax dollars on policies that finance organized crime and facilitate the use of hard drugs.

As for medical marijuana, the hypocrisy of the drug war is made all the more glaring by the fact that the federal government currently grows and distributes medical marijuana to eight patients. Those fortunate enough to enroll in the government's Compassionate Use Program before drug warriors shut it down needn't worry about marijuana's worst side-effect: jail.

ROBERT SHARPE, Program officer, The Lindesmith Center-Drug Policy Foundation, Washington, D.C.