WE SHOULD KEEP MARIJUANA ILLEGAL

I would like to respond to D. Skipworth's letter last Monday. She
stated the war on drugs is hypocritical and a lost cause and
potential tax dollars go uncollected because of ignorant politicians
and police. The benefits of hemp are mentioned, and she states
cannabis is good for the planet. We learn Chris Columbus may have
come to America with sails made from hemp. While that may or may not
be true, I think they used to pull teeth without Novocain, too.

In a perfect world we would all do the right thing and use common
sense. Too bad for us, we all have a different idea of common sense.
I'll just use one word as an extreme example: pedophiles. Cannabis
may or may not be good for the planet, but for the average person it
is not. It is a proven fact cannabis, or marijuana, is a gateway
drug. The war on drugs is a war that I gladly take on. Why would our
society want to legally unleash another mind altering substance when
we as a society clearly cannot handle the one we have: alcohol. I am
speaking of those individuals who drink to excess and then put others
at risk. How about the misuse and abuse of prescription medication?
Even over-the-counter meds?

So, hemp is used for food and medicine in other (more sophisticated -
implied) parts of the world? That's great. We in America have a lot
of freedoms and choices that those in other parts of the world do not
have, and I readily give them their use of hemp and gladly keep our
public servants, who I dare not as a whole call ignorant.

Janet Chandik

Batavia