Pubdate: Fri, 12 Feb 2010 Source: Free Lance-Star, The (VA) Copyright: 2010 The Free Lance-Star Contact: http://fredericksburg.com/flshome Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1065 Author: Richard Moter LEGALIZATION OF MARIJUANA IS NO JOKE Recent articles on the current pot decriminalization bill emphasize that hard-line Republicans treat this bill as a joke ["Morgan tries to get his legislation past the pot jokes," Jan. 26]. For Americans with medical problems eased by cannabis, it is not a joke. I can assure readers that people who are sick, dying, and suffering take it seriously. The people have spoken. Marijuana has become acceptable in American society. The government's policy is pure oppression and tyranny, and we aren't buying it anymore. We want our religious freedom and our medical freedom. We want our rights as Americans, rights that were earned at Mount Suribachi and the beaches of France. The American people are tired of a government of tyranny that rules with unjust, oppressive laws from the days of Jim Crow. And we aren't buying party-line sound bites, either. House Speaker Bill Howell said, "It sounds like those Republican women were probably smoking something." That's just not funny. Richard Moter Caroline - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake