LEGALIZE MARIJUANA

As a mother of a high school teenager I've read with interest the
recent letters in your newspaper about how drug education is presented
to our kids.

While I'm no expert on the Holy Bible, I've observed that there are
literally hundreds of ways people read it and choose to interpret it.
So I won't quibble with either letter writer Ben Hooker (No
Justification For Pot, Feb. 7), nor Stan White (Conflict of Interest -
Feb. 2) and their personal opinion of popular scripture.

Rather, I'll just submit that for my son and for his peers, accurate
education about all drugs is vital. And I know that one fact about
drugs is that our current laws in Texas regarding marijuana possession
can create far more harm for teenagers than marijuana use itself. This
makes using cops as "drug teachers" a bad idea.

I'm teaching my teenager that abstinence from marijuana is best for
his health. But in the unlikely event that he might ignore my counsel
and somehow get caught by police, a lifetime criminal record will
burden him far longer than the effects of any teenage experimentation
with pot.

Let's change our laws to legalize marijuana and get its dealing off
the streets where kids have easier access. Than we can use our cops
for police work and leave the drug education to health care
professionals who aren't conflicted in delivering accurate information
about all drugs to our teens.

Amy George

Plano