Editor: The fact that Bill Moos lifted DeAngelo Casto's suspension and that Ken Bone started him just goes to show that I am not the only person who thinks you should not be punished for possessing marijuana. We can all see that the most harmful thing about marijuana is its illegality, along with the negative stigma associated with its use. In a Letter to the Editor, Jeff Hanson said marijuana makes you lazy. I do not think I need to point out the hypocrisy of both being a basketball player and being lazy, but you have given me no choice. Casto is not showing a lack of respect for the university - he is showing a lack of respect for the war on drugs, which I applaud. [continues 160 words]
To the editor: Strange things are done under the midnight sun. An example: the ad campaign by Alaskans for Marijuana Regulation and Control. Their claim was the Alaska medicinal cannabis law was not working. Part of the blame can be placed on the shoulders of the leadership in the 1998 medical cannabis movement and not just the Alaska Legislature. The concepts now cited as problems areas were actually in the original petition text. Such as: Section AS 17.35.010 of the initiative texts sets up the list and ID card system. [continues 245 words]
I find it strange that Wev Shea ("Drugs attack society's moral fiber," May 16) would proclaim drug traffickers and dealers are modern-day "Hitlers," and in the same paragraph mention that the same people are "one step up from child molesters." Saying anyone is "one step up from child molesters" is blind hate. Didn't Hitler destroy people he hated? A hate that blinded him to reality. He dragged his entire country into a self-destructive spiral because of this blind hate. [continues 145 words]
To the editor: A friend and colleague in the cause of medicinal cannabis, Peter McWilliams died recently. The facts surrounding his death are clear. The cause of death? He choked on his own vomit. (Orange County Register, Saturday, June 24, 2000). Was Peter using cannabis at the time of his death? No. He and a co-conspirator Todd McCormick (who's serving five years on the same charge) were busted for growing medicinal cannabis. (Daily News of Los Angeles, Sunday, June 25, 2000.) The judge didn't allow cannabis to be used medically. [continues 251 words]
In the Nov. 26 Daily News story "Battling from the fringe," an Alaska state legislator said he was dismayed because we are again facing the issue of decriminalizing cannabis. Many of his fellow Alaskans have been dismayed because Alaska state legislators often bring up the same issues again and again. Key issues of "decriminalization" should be: Does it have safeguards against children and other unauthorized people getting possession of cannabis, and, as important, does it protect the privacy rights of Alaskans as cited in the court case Ravin and reaffirmed in McNeil? [continues 181 words]
