KEEPING POT ILLEGAL MAKES THINGS WORSE

Editor, The News:

Re: Don't legalize pot (letters, May 9).

Jeremie Geschke is correct; marijuana is bad for you, however the
solution is not to criminalize it. The solution is education.

The negative effects of marijuana have been greatly exaggerated.
Cigarettes are also harmful and much more addictive than marijuana;
however they are not illegal. Being obese also causes cancer. Should
we lock up obese people and force them to lose weight?

His view that "the economy will go down because people won't work" is
not a valid argument in a free society. Using these arguments,
alcohol and cigarettes should also be illegal because they do not
contribute to your productivity. It's pretty hard to have a
productive day while drinking or after a night of drinking.

Where do we draw the line? Should all harmful or unproductive
behaviours be illegal?

Matt Eisenschenk
Pullman, Washington

Editor, The News:

Well, I have to applaud Jeremie Geschke for realizing the inherent
dangers of smoking marijuana; however, his arguments seem to be
against smoking pot, rather than being against legalization. He
points out that cannabis has over 360 chemicals, but how many
chemicals are in a can of pop, a bag of chips, an apple? The
preservatives,MSG, for crying out loud, chemicals are in our air,
water and everything in between.

Pot alters your mood, but so does caffeine. I don't see coffee being
ripped off the shelves. Juan Valdez isn't a drug lord. Too much
Aspirin can mess you up too. We don't outlaw smoking or alcohol, both
as or more dangerous than marijuana. We tried prohibition once, and
it didn't take. All it did was create a black market, in which
gangsters would make millions of dollars off of bootlegging in such
widespread operations that law enforcement could hardly make a dent.
Sound familiar?

And that's another issue. Organized crime controls the drugs.
Therefore, there are no regulations controlling the growth,
distribution and sale, which means it's actually easier for under-age
kids to get their hands on drugs. If the government regulated it, it
would be sold in stores rather than street corners, by clerks instead
of dealers. When you make something illegal, you give away control.

Legalizing pot would bring in billions of dollars for social
programs, (possibly lowering taxes) and lower prison populations
because cells won't be filled with non-violent drug offenders. Now
when you consider all this, please take into account that I'm a
20-year-old who has never touched pot, cigarettes or alcohol. I don't
recommend smoking pot to ANYONE, let alone children, and I'm not
voting for the Marijuana Party. I just look at the way things are and
ask myself: What is it that really makes a drug dangerous? Now think
about that over you're morning coffee.

Brad Duncan
Maple Ridge