Pubdate: Thu, 19 Jul 2007 Source: Record Searchlight (Redding, CA) Copyright: 2007 Record Searchlight Contact: http://www.redding.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/360 Author: Pamela B. Bruce Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?115 (Cannabis - California) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization) WHY NOT JUST LEGALIZE IT? Here we go again, spending billions of dollars to eradicate the marijuana plant. I've been around marijuana smokers since 1971. I have known many marijuana smokers. Mostly they're responsible taxpaying adults such as business owners, college professors, cashiers, a doctor, etc., including someone very near and dear to me who has worked government jobs their entire life, most recently as a highly valued Shasta County employee for more than 10 years. The truth is, marijuana abuse (not casual use) lowers your motivation; that's about it. Anything else considered bad about marijuana is only because it's illegal. Our children can get marijuana much easier than alcohol or cigarettes because drug dealers don't ask for ID. To make matters much worse, marijuana is now being taken over by drug cartels that are carrying weapons and taking over our national forests. Every year more and more is being spent to eradicate these illegal gardens, and the problem is only getting worse. All of these issues can be solved by legalizing marijuana. Instead of spending billions to try to rid us of marijuana, why not spend the money on meth and crack issues, which are a major problem? We continually see articles stating the value of the eradicated gardens. Imagine if it were a legal crop. How much tax revenue would it generate? Americans from all walks of life are smoking marijuana. We have been for many years, and we will continue to do so. I cannot understand why our government continues to sling propaganda regarding marijuana. Are there any reality-based reasons that marijuana should be illegal? Please, someone enlighten me. Pamela B. Bruce Redding - --- MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman