Pubdate: Sun, 3 May 2009
Source: Victoria Advocate (TX)
Copyright: 2009 Victoria Advocate Publishing Company
Contact: 
http://host.victoriaadvocate.com/cobrand/letter_to_editor/letter_to_editor.shtm
Website: http://www.thevictoriaadvocate.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/671
Author: Gabe Semenza

"SHOULD MARIJUANA BE LEGALIZED?"

The Breakdown Pro / Con Is a Feature in Which We Explore Both Sides 
of Timely Topics. This Week, We Ask, "Should Marijuana Be Legalized?"

Pro: U.S. Can Make, Save Money by Legalizing, Taxing Marijuana

Marijuana should be legalized in the United States, some say.

The harmless plant is not addictive, its illegal distribution sparks 
a bloody, failed drug war, and taxing it would stimulate the economy, 
a former law enforcement officer said.

Terry Nelson is a 60-year-old former law enforcement officer. He 
worked for the U.S. Border Patrol and the Department of Homeland Security.

Today he's a member of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, a group 
of retired police, prosecutors and judges who think all narcotics 
should be legalized and regulated.

"Scientifically, it's proven marijuana is not addictive," Nelson 
said. "Yet, addictive drugs like nicotine and alcohol are sold legally."

Nelson spoke from his cell phone outside of El Paso. Across the river 
there, a bloody Juarez battle between warring drug cartels killed 
thousands of gang members and innocents last year.

"Until you remove the criminal element, you can't get control of the 
violence," he said. "We've got to stop the crime and violence 
associated with it. It's killing people all over the world."

By legalizing and regulating marijuana, drug cartels and violence 
would wither. You don't see Coors and Anheuser Busch fighting with 
machine guns in the streets of Golden, Colo., he said

Tim Felger is a former U.S. military member who moved to Canada. He's 
organizing the 2009 Worldwide Marijuana March, a civic movement 
Saturday aimed at legalizing marijuana.

"When you take drugs off the market, you get an increase in crime and 
violence," Felger said.

By giving Americans free choice, the U.S. government could also use 
the billions of dollars, spent each year in fighting drug use and 
jailing offenders, for better purposes.

"By legalizing and taxing marijuana you could bring in an estimated 
$6 billion to $7 billion a year," Nelson said. "That doesn't include 
the savings you would have from the cost of jailing offenders and not 
having to fight the drug war."

More than 800,000 people a year are arrested and imprisoned for 
smoking a plant that's never killed the user, he added.

"When we don't control and regulate a commodity people want, some 
other group will fill that void," Nelson said. "We know these drugs 
are going to be used. Let's regulate it. We're not going to arrest 
our way out of the drug war."

Con: Legalizing Marijuana Won't Improve Society

Marijuana should remain illegal in the United States, some say.

Marijuana is a gateway drug, leads to delinquency and would become a 
great problem for young people, those who oppose its legalization maintain.

Do you want your children getting their hands on a drug the way they 
can beer or cigarettes?

Victoria County Sheriff T. Michael O'Connor said making marijuana 
legal won't make society better.

Many of the narcotics users his department arrests say they graduate 
from marijuana to more lethal drugs such as cocaine and methamphetamines.

"Sometimes the grass isn't greater on the other side," O'Connor said.

In California, where marijuana is legal for medical purposes in some 
cities, crime rates are still worrisome.

"There is an increased aggressiveness among criminals," O'Connor 
said. "They rob these stores for the product.  Or, they rob people 
for the legal drug profits.  Criminals will just wait for pot to 
become legal, and they'll just continue to rob."

Life on roadways would suffer, too. Law enforcement at all levels 
fight daily the problem of drivers who abuse alcohol. Drivers who 
abuse marijuana would worsen the problem.

"To put themselves in an impaired way, then we'll have increased 
risks to travel," O'Connor said.

Victoria Police Chief Bruce Ure said he's unsure, without having 
viewed ample scientific data, what the full effects on society would be.

"The issue that concerns me most," Ure said, "is what's next? If 
society legalizes this particular drug, then what drug is next and 
where do we stop."

Legalizing marijuana won't undermine violent drug cartels, as 
legalization proponents suggest.

"Organized crime will find something else," O'Connor said. "They'll 
continue until we change people's minds about using narcotics. It's a 
defeatist attitude to say, 'Let's make it legal.' I'm trying to look 
at it practically, look at the bigger picture of things. What kind of 
laws will we write up on this? Can we enforce it?"

To legalize marijuana simply for taxation is not enough reason, 
District Attorney Steve Tyler said.

"Nicotine doesn't impair judgment like marijuana does," Tyler said. 
"It's a concern for young people.  Personally speaking, not speaking 
as a district attorney, I side toward it being illegal. I believe it 
poses a health risk and poses the greatest risk to young people." 
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