Re "Undermining the public's trust" (Guest comment, by Nathan Esplanade, Jan. 7): Apparently to undermine my anti-alcohol and -marijuana guest comment last week, the CN&R changed and deleted some of my words and made others insensible, and completely omitted my conclusion. In the same issue, the CN&R published more propaganda arguing legalizing pot would enable pain relief for the poor and enrich local governments. In so doing, it once again ignored the elephant in the room: Patients with a prescription can already acquire affordable medication via the Internet. [continues 150 words]
Editor: Last week a local paper published a letter from Stan White - an alleged Dillon, Colorado man - defending marijuana legalization. From a Google search revealing he's published literally thousands of letters in newspapers nationwide defending marijuana use, White appears to be a paid lobbyist for the industry. In his letter, White argued legalizing marijuana wouldn't increase demand for police, fire, legal, judicial, penal, healthcare and social services as I contended. He argued it hasn't had this effect in Colorado, where recreational marijuana's been legal since 2013. He went on to indicate Colorado's actually prospered from marijuana legalization. He didn't reveal his source of information. [continues 96 words]
Re "Preparing for pot legalization" (Editorial, Nov. 12): Last week the CN&R once again stunk up its pages with pro-pot propaganda. That is, with arguments that since people are going to smoke recreational marijuana whether it's legal or not, it might as well be legal so it's "safe" and so government can tax it. This author and the CN&R will have blood on their hands if recreational marijuana's legalized in California. That is, for minimizing the seriousness of the drug's effect on human health, the environment and public safety. [continues 99 words]
Re "An end to prohibition" (Editorial, July 31): The CN&R's argument that marijuana should be legalized because the associated punishment is more harmful than its use itself is not only circular, it's short-sighted. Marijuana is actually quite harmful in that like any intoxicant, it impairs judgment and motor skills critical to personal and public safety-not just driving and operating machinery, but also while socializing and having sex. Like alcohol, marijuana precludes us from maintaining intelligent conversation that facilitates our making and maintaining friendships with attractive, responsible, intelligent people. Further, like tobacco, marijuana's bad for our lungs and immune systems, it's expensive, it stinks, it makes us fat, and it's a fire hazard. Moreover, as with alcohol, smoking marijuana encourages others to do it and suffer the same ill effects. [continues 80 words]
