Pubdate: Wed, 31 Jul 2002 Source: Reno Gazette-Journal (NV) Webpage: www.rgj.com/news/stories/html/2002/07/31/20557.php?sp1=&sp2=&sp3 Copyright: 2002 Reno Gazette-Journal Contact: http://www.rgj.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/363 Authors: Tom Seiler, William E. Hall, Christopher Bellecy, and Ann Larson READERS WEIGH IN ON POT LEGALIZATION PLAN Washoe County District Attorney Richard Gammick has stated that the current initiative to legalize marijuana is just the beginning of an effort to legalize all drugs. Where does he get this inside information? I have been involved in the medical marijuana movement for a long time and I can't ever remember anyone saying anything about legalizing anything other than marijuana. In 1996, California passed Proposition 215 the first medical marijuana bill in this country. The opponents like Barry McCaffery and Dan Lungren used the same argument, that this was just the beginning of an effort to legalize all drugs. Well, Proposition 215 passed six years ago and since that time there has not been one bill or one proposition or one piece of legislation to legalize any other drug proposed in California or anywhere else in this world. It just is not happening, but yet Mr. Gammick claims that legalizing all drugs is the real goal. I wish he would tell us where he gets this information. Tom Seiler Reno - ------------------------------------ "Officials slam marijuana ballot question," July 21 RGJ: Just as marijuana has been erroneously branded a "gateway" drug for decades (the real "gateway" drugs are alcohol and tobacco), marijuana decriminalization is now being touted by drug war addicted law enforcement officials as the "gateway" to a comprehensive legalization of all illicit drugs. With more than 62,000 arrests every month, marijuana is the backbone of the drug war skeleton. Never in American history, and seldom in world history, has there been such massive persecution and prosecution. Lose the marijuana bogeyman and the drug war deflates overnight. It is supremely ironic and a thing of beauty that Nevada, once the most marijuana intolerant of states, is now poised on the threshold of a cutting edge tolerance that will inevitably be imitated by all the other states. One of histories most futile, costly and ridiculous prohibitions is finally coming to an end in Nevada. William E. Hall Sparks - ------------------------------------- Now that our esteemed federal officials have had their say about the initiative to decriminalize cannabis, I'd like to offer another view. The feds are concerned about Nevada turning into another Amsterdam. As someone who has actually visited that fair city, I can truthfully say that I felt safer walking the streets of Amsterdam at 1 a.m. looking for a hotel room than I feel walking the streets of my hometown at dusk. But that's subjective, so let's look at some facts. Dutch teenagers smoke cannabis at about half the rate of U.S. teens. The Dutch have fewer drug-related deaths. Crack and methamphetamine are virtually nonexistent, and there are no drug gangs killing innocents in drive-by shootings. The Dutch model shows that separating cannabis from the so-called "hard" drugs discourages the use of those drugs. The state initiative conflicts with federal law, but that's the point. We have to send a message to our representatives in Washington that we're tired of the police state and we want to look at other ways of dealing with the issue. Christopher Bellecy Carson City - --------------------------------------------- Naturally, District Attorney Richard Gammick would oppose legalizing three ounces or less of marijuana. He comes from law enforcement, and any diminishment of policing power troubles such people. The United States spends billions of dollars each year on drug interdiction, while the problems of drug experimentation, use and addiction worsen, and only a tiny portion of the money goes toward treatment for those who want to stop using. Marijuana is far less addictive than the very- legal Budweiser most law enforcement officers have now in their refrigerators. Wasting Nevada's scarce money on arresting, booking and jailing harmless marijuana users is a travesty, and if most criminals incur a marijuana charge only after they're picked up for something else, then that just means more money to fully prosecute the other crime. Remember folks, Prohibition didn't work. Ann Larson Reno - --- MAP posted-by: Beth