Pubdate: Thu, 06 Sep 2001
Source: Richmond Times-Dispatch (VA)
Copyright: 2001 Richmond Newspapers Inc.
Contact:  http://www.timesdispatch.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/365
Author: Craig Gilkison

TOUGH MARIJUANA LAWS HAVEN'T WORKED

Editor, Times-Dispatch: I completely agree with you that legal drugs such 
as OxyContin are abused. Every pharmaceutical since the Pharoahs has been 
abused by someone. For that matter so have gasoline and cleaning fluid. I 
lived in the Netherlands in the mid-Nineties. "Soft" drugs such as 
marijuana and hashish are not legal but are not persecuted, either. They 
are readily available on the menus in the many coffee houses in Rotterdam 
and Amsterdam. There is no underground market for these drugs. There are no 
"pot" gangs. Not everyone in Holland is a stoner because of the semi-legal 
status of these drugs. Not everyone in the U.S. is a drunk because booze is 
legal. No one has ever overdosed on Mary Jane.

These are facts, not theories.

Though I don't partake myself, I see no logic in the 80-year persecution of 
"Killer Reefer." It has worked just as well as alcohol prohibition. It has 
cost trillions that could have been used for medical research, highways, or 
something productive

Are we still Puritans? History tells us bear-baiting was banned by them. It 
was not for the sake of the bear, however; it was banned because people 
enjoyed it too much. I see a lesson there!

Craig Gilkison. hopewell.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom