Smoking tobacco should not be encouraged, yet we do not threaten tobacco growers, vendors and users with arrest and imprisonment. Now consider dangerous sports, such as mountain climbing. The death rate on Mount Everest is about one in ten of those who make it successfully, which is a vastly higher mortality rate than just about any drug used at present in a recreational manner. Malcolm Kyle, San Antonio, Texas [end]
Re "The man who would be prez" (Feature story, Sept. 13): Ending prohibition would greatly reduce the market in illegal narcotics, cause a reduction in the number of users and addicts, greatly curtail drug related illness and deaths, reduce societal harm from problematic abusers, and bring about an enormous reduction in the presence and influence of organized crime. The people who use drugs are our own children, our brothers, our sisters, our parents, and our neighbors. By allowing all adults safe and controlled legal access to psychoactive substances, we will not only greatly reduce the dangers for both them and ourselves but also greatly minimize the possibility of 'peer-initiation' and sales to minors. [continues 119 words]
Re: "Charting the Rise of Medical Cannabis," Legalization Nation, 11/17 Here are just some of the many studies the Feds wish they'd never commissioned: 1) MARIJUANA USE HAS NO EFFECT ON MORTALITY: A massive study of California HMO members funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) found marijuana use caused no significant increase in mortality. Tobacco use was associated with increased risk of death. Sidney, S et al. Marijuana Use and Mortality. American Journal of Public Health. Vol. 87 No. 4, April 1997. p. 585-590. Sept. 2002. [continues 1063 words]
Re: Students convicted of drug offenses should not get aid In a recent article, Nicki Croly lent support for federal law which suspends federal student aid eligibility for any student convicted of possessing or selling illegal drugs. Croly made no mention of the fact that murderers and rapists do not suffer the same fate. Anyway for most of us it's no longer in contention, our drug policies have turned out to be a complete flop. Drugs are more affordable than ever and can be acquired even in our prisons and schools. It's not a war on drugs. It's a war on our own people and everything we hold dear, like the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. [continues 58 words]
Concerning the Rev. Dr. Ted Beams' view on the legalization/regulation of marijuana, I would like to say that during Prohibition, when we tried to legislate away alcohol, we instead created huge criminal organizations which benefited from huge profits. Today, we have created a similar situation wherein similar organizations have affected the world even our grandchildren will inherit. Now, we should embark on a strategy against drug prohibition and strengthen education, which proved successful in reducing tobacco use. If we wish to protect our children - a goal that God would certainly support - then we should invest in policies that remove criminals from the equation, something that prohibition has always failed to do. Malcolm Kyle The Hague, Holland [end]
To the Editor: In response to Harvey Neiblum's call to legalize marijuana, we are, I think, just like so many others like us, exasperated by the ignorance and lack of compassion shown by the so-called drug warriors who, whilst claiming to have our best interests in mind, are, as we see it, actually the very people responsible for turning a large number of our inner cities into war zones; criminalizing large numbers of our young people and ruining race-relations by their targeting of ethnic minorities. [continues 291 words]
I CANNOT help thinking that maybe it might help if you were to point out to the anti-drug warriors that it probably was not a coincidence that the great stock market crash of 1929 happened during the years of alcohol prohibition (1919-33) and that the Great Depression may not have been cured by the new deal but was more likely alleviated by the repeal of prohibition. "The worst may be yet to come." Malcolm Kyle Hague, Holland (An interesting theory but highly unlikely.) [end]
