Senseless drug laws.

• Author: Mirken, Bruce
• Position: Letters to the Editor - Letter to the editor

The insanely harsh sentence given to small-time marijuana dealer Weldon Angelos ("The Dope Dealer Who Got 55 Years," by Sasha Abramsky, June issue) is simply an extreme manifestation of a policy that long ago lost all connection with reality. In 2004 (the latest year for which figures are available), there were 771,984 U.S. marijuana arrests. And 88 percent of these were for simple possession--not sale or manufacture. That's more arrests for marijuana possession than for all violent crimes combined.

But why?

Is it because marijuana is a terribly dangerous substance?

Well, no.

Marijuana is indisputably less dangerous than alcohol. Alcohol is more addictive, far more toxic, and exponentially more likely to provoke violent or aggressive behavior.

Is it because marijuana prohibition is effective at reducing use and keeping marijuana away from kids?

Again, the answer is no.

In the Netherlands, where adults have been allowed to possess and purchase small amounts of marijuana from regulated businesses since the mid-1970s, the rate of...