Pubdate: Tue, 23 Oct 2007 Source: Oregonian, The (Portland, OR) Copyright: 2007 The Oregonian Contact: http://www.oregonlive.com/oregonian/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/324 Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n1212/a08.html Author: Mitch Shults MARIJUANA: LEGALIZE IT TO END PROBLEMS Beneficiaries of continued prohibition? Police, FBI, dealers, growers, gangs. Beneficiaries of legalization? Everyone but the above. Your article makes it perfectly obvious that the only real answer to the chaos you so accurately describe is full legalization. How ironic, then, that the only folks you speak to are those who have a major stake in the continuation of the status quo. You seem surprised that medical marijuana is a sham that's been used as a cover for illicit drug sales. Duh! That was the point of the whole medical marijuana thing in the first place! The answer isn't to scrap medical marijuana in favor of prohibition. The only answer that makes any sense is full legalization. But that won't happen as long as police forces of all kinds remain addicted to the revenues they get from drug enforcement, and as long as dealers remain addicted to the outsize profits that only prohibition can provide. Those of us who suffer daily from the increased crime and violence that result directly from prohibition have no effective say in the matter. Mitch Shults Southeast Portland - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake