WRONG APPROACH BY REILLY As a law enforcement officer, I could see a biased Tom Riley being against marijuana decriminalization, but as a gubernatorial candidate I would expect a more enlightened, leadership position on the pending marijuana bill ("AG Reilly slams idea to soften penalties," Feb. 15). With a little research Mr. Riley would find out that in the states where marijuana is decriminalized, the youth there smoke marijuana at lower rates than in Massachusetts. It is a simple known fact that criminalizing marijuana drives teens to try marijuana. It is the "forbidden fruit" syndrome; somewhat akin to "don't touch yourself or you'll go blind." Prior to marijuana prohibition in 1937, marijuana was used primarily by jazz musicians and migrant Mexican workers, without any adverse consequences that can be truthfully documented. With the advent of marijuana prohibition and the government's national smear campaign against marijuana, the little known plant became the "rebel outlaw" that needed to be tried by our youth. Of course, with national exposure, marijuana use caught on and spread like wildfire across the nation. Last year there were over 700,000 arrests for marijuana (about 85 percent for simple possession) and prior to prohibition we had none. The war on marijuana has cost tens of billions of dollars while only increasing marijuana use. I sure don't want police wasting time arresting, transporting and processing anyone for simple marijuana possession. Police are highly paid law enforcement officers and should concentrate on more important public safety matters. Kim Hanna
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