Published November 4, 2004, in issue 0344 of the Hook

Regarding Nick Gillespie's excellent October 8 essay ["Your bong: Basis of "narco-terrorism"?], the illicit drug of choice in America is domestically grown marijuana, not Colombian cocaine or Afghan heroin. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Admininstration's misleading drug-terror propaganda may lead Americans to mistakenly conclude that marijuana smokers are somehow responsible for the tragic events of September 11. That misperception is likely no accident.

Taxing and regulating marijuana would render the drug war obsolete. As long as marijuana remains illegal and distributed by organized crime, consumers will continue to come into contact with hard drugs like cocaine and heroin. For obvious reasons, government bureaucrats-- whose jobs depend on a never-ending drug war-- prefer to blame the plant itself for the alleged "gateway" to hard drugs.

Robert Sharpe
Policy Analyst, Common Sense for Drug Policy
Washington, D.C.

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