MORE READERS RESPOND TO MEDICAL MARIJUANA ISSUE

Time to Decriminalize Usage of Marijuana

I am not a marijuana user, but medical marijuana should be on the
November ballot. We need to take a step further at some point and
decriminalize marijuana.

Confiscation and a civil infraction if you're not using it for
medical purposes is fine, but to slap people with felonies and
potentially ruin their lives while clogging up the criminal justice
system with a backlog of drug cases is ridiculous.

Can these offenders become productive in society with a felony drug
record? It's a vicious cycle that has continued for years, and the
drug laws on the books have failed miserably.

If we decriminalize marijuana, it doesn't mean every teenager in
Michigan will smoke marijuana, or people will be smoking in the
streets anymore than they do now.

With the prisons and jails in Michigan making budget cuts and
releasing inmates early, it makes sense to take this into
consideration. Legalizing medical marijuana is a start.

Rich Elsman

Kalamazoo