Pubdate: Sat, 12 Oct 2002 Source: East Valley Tribune (AZ) Copyright: 2002 East Valley Tribune Contact: http://www.aztrib.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1795 Author: Kirk Muse HARD-LINERS SOFTEN WHEN LAWS HIT HOME Re: "Napolitano Admits Pot Use in College" (Oct. 10) Kudos to the Tribune for the hard hitting question of Governor candidate Janet Napolitano, "If police had caught her smoking pot in college, would she want to have been arrested, jailed, strip-searched and charged with a felony--as required by Arizona's current legal system?" Those that support our current system of drug prohibition quickly change their tune when the system personally involves themselves or their loved ones. A good example is Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, the personification of a drug warrior--until it involved his own daughter. Our current system of marijuana prohibition resulted in greater than 734,000 arrests last year for marijuana violations. More arrests than for murder, rape, assault, burglary and armed robbery--combined! It seems to me that our jails and court system should be reserved for people that harm other people--not themselves. Kirk Muse Mesa - --- MAP posted-by: Alex