Pubdate: Wed, 13 Sep 2006 Source: Modesto Bee, The (CA) Copyright: 2006 The Modesto Bee Contact: http://www.modbee.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/271 Author: Robert Blanchard Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?115 (Cannabis - California) Note: Title by MAP Editor LEARN FROM THE PAST You would think the federal government and state could look in the past. When they made booze illegal, in stepped the Mafia and we all know what happened then -- killings, booze runs, making moonshine, and they made money. So now marijuana is the money-maker for the Mexican drug cartels. Have you been watching the news or reading your paper? Houses have been located that are used only for growing marijuana in Oakhurst, Sacramento, etc. Our national forests are being used by the Mexican drug cartels, and restoring them after the cartels have made an environmental mess is going to take months and tens of thousands of dollars. We taxpayers are paying for the war on drugs, the clean up, the agents that work for the war on drugs. It's not working. If marijuana was made legal, there would be no reason for drug cartels to grow and sell this. The state would get the taxes and could make regulations, which we need. Robert Blanchard Ceres - --- MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman