Pubdate: Thu, 12 Nov 2015 Source: Daily Courier, The (CN BC) Copyright: 2015 The Okanagan Valley Group of Newspapers Contact: http://www.kelownadailycourier.ca Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/531 Author: Otto Sturhahn Page: A9 MAKE IT EASIER FOR EVERYONE: LEGALIZE DRUGS Groups against legalizing consist of lawyers, judges, law enforcement and the institutions that are housing the criminals in jails. The latter would like to have the jails full, so that their investment pays off. On the other hand, those that want to legalize marijuana would like a piece of the pie. These are pharmacy industry, medical professionals and, of course, the government. The latter has an appetite for cash like the cookie monster, so that they can pay the interest on the borrowed money. I belong to a third group that would like all drugs decriminalized. People may remember when alcohol was an enemy, a time of prohibition. We all know how that turned out, because those racketeers like Al Capone and many more made a fortune in home-brewed whisky. These racketeers were the same characters who lobbied the government, to make alcohol illegal. If we would do some checking in that regard, we would notice the same make a fortune with today's laws. When drugs were neither legal, nor illegal, there were no drug addicts anywhere. The trouble started right after it became illegal to have some fun. I can remember a story, where Ceres put opium in a child's cereal meal to help him sleep and recover from illness, because when one sleeps we are in the hands of the gods and they heal us overnight. Otto Sturhahn, Penticton - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom