Pubdate: Sun, 26 Aug 2012
Source: Pueblo Chieftain (CO)
Copyright: 2012 The Pueblo Chieftain
Contact:  http://www.chieftain.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1613
Author: Danny Calhoon

DRUG WARS

Well, the Mexican drug cartel has fled the violence on its side of 
the border and brought it here to Colorado.

Who will be the first to see their neighbor's face rolling down the 
road wrapped around a basketball. Whose money will we fight this 
invasion with: city, county, state or federal dollars? Dollars that 
could well be spent on important necessities.

When will those in power realize that to take the money out of 
marijuana, you take the crime out of it. You legalize it, control 
access to it and, most importantly, you tax it as the commodity it is.

Al Capone made millions during prohibition bootlegging, and as soon 
as prohibition was repealed he was forced to find other crimes to 
support the lifestyle he had become accustomed to while selling an 
illegal substance: booze.

How many new police cruisers have the general fund purchased and how 
many new boots have hit or stayed on the streets with funds induced 
from the licensing of medical marijuana patients and the sales taxes 
generated from the legal marketing of medicinal marijuana.

Alcohol has killed far more than any drug or war in our 236-year 
history but introduces millions of dollars yearly in federal and 
state taxes. So we accept it. We regulate it, and we abuse it.

The time has come to think outside the box or start to accept the 
bullet-riddled cars and dead bodies piled in the fields as normal 
operating procedure.

Danny Calhoon

Pueblo
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom