Pubdate: Sat, 28 Dec 2002
Source: Whidbey News-Times (WA)
Copyright: 2002 Whidbey News Times
Contact:  http://www.whidbeynewstimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2099
Author: Pete Sill

DRUG CONTROL: LET'S PROFIT FROM MARIJUANA

Today I'm sitting here having my morning coffee, smoking cigarettes and 
watching the news before I go off to work. One of the feature stories on 
the news was about this judge who was caught smoking marijuana at a rock 
concert somewhere in hometown USA. The reporter went on to say that the 
judge is willingly turning himself in for rehabilitation and will keep his 
place on the bench.

I got to thinking about this and the more I thought about it, the more 
disgusted I got. The United States of America probably spends billions of 
dollars each and every day busting the average Joe user and putting them in 
jail at taxpayer expense just because we have decided that marijuana use is 
illegal. But let a judge get busted and he retains his position as a lawmaker.

The reporter also went on to say that every drug case that this judge has 
presided over for the last 10 years must now be revisited and retried. 
Where is the justice in that, to us the taxpayers, who now have to foot the 
bill for all these new trials! Now, back in the 30's we did the same thing 
to alcohol users and producers, but eventually we gave up and legalized 
alcohol for consumption and now we sell it virtually everywhere and collect 
taxes on the sales. We have cigarettes, proven to be deadly, but they are 
legal, and again we sell them to the public and again we collect taxes on 
the sales (hefty in this state).

So where am I missing the point here? We see on the news that our country 
is in a deficit, we see it in the stock market, we see it in our daily 
lives. So how can legalizing marijuana hurt us anymore than legalizing 
alcohol consumption or cigarettes? Under legalization, marijuana could be 
controlled, just like booze and cigarettes, with age limits, hefty fines 
and incarceration for driving under the influence, etc. To tell me that the 
kids will have access would only prove to me how blind you are. Kids get 
alcohol and cigarettes already and look at the controls we supposedly have 
on these products. Heck, we even went so far as to vote on raising the 
price of cigarettes last year to curtail children from smoking and I for 
one, don't see any difference.

Kids are going to get it no matter how many controls we put on it. 
Marijuana has also been proven to have medicinal benefits, but those people 
using it strictly for that purpose can't legally possess it. Now, I would 
like to say that I am not a user of marijuana nor do I foresee that I would 
start using it, but I can't see spending billions of dollars a year putting 
the common everyday user in jail or some other means of incarcerated 
monitoring, at tax payers expense, when this country could legalize it and 
profit from it, rather than the drug dealer or terrorist from another country.

Please, I invite your feedback, because this issue is really baffling me, 
are we this blind that we can't see beyond our noses.

Alcohol.....DUH!

Cigarettes...DUH!

Pete Sill

Oak Harbor
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MAP posted-by: Beth